retemtion of the red lotus
by Femke-the-lotus
Summary: sequal to "the new lotus" read it first before you read this" Femke has found all the members of the voortrix clan, but will the be able to guide the red lotus to retemtion and save the world from the incoming darkness coming their way before it is to late?
1. Chapter 1: new times

Chapter 1: New Times

 **Femke's POV**

After I bid Zaheer one last goodbye, I was thrown back into the normal daily routines I used to have, get up, brush my teeth, go do whatever is needed to be done, practice my bending _(in secret)_ , paint, housework and then to bed. But one thing had been changed since the last time; I was also an Airbender now and no one could know because if they were to find out I was an Airbender they would go and ask how and when I learned how to use Airbending and if they would find out it was Zaheer who taught me how to Airbend, well, they wouldn't believe me anyway and think I knew all along and lied about knowing it. So I stood low and tried to avoid using my airbending in the open. That was until i would be able to 'master' the Airbending gates.

 _'_ _Since I technically already mastered them with Zaheer and company.'_

I thought as I painted the high hills behind the island, imagining Zaheer in his cell somewhere out there, all alone, thinking his friends were dead. All of them, except me and I wasn't able to reach him.

 _'_ _Oh zaheer. If only I had been able to tell you the truth.'_

Femke thought as she painted Zaheer somewhere in between the hills with a light around him, meaning he was more a ghost because she had no idea where he was but in her memories he was still with her. Just as much as her friends,

"Hello Femke, what are you doing?"

I turned around when I heard jinora behind me, looking at the painting I had just made with wide eyes.

"I was just painting and he popped into my mind like this."

I stammered as I looked at Jinora, hoping she would buy it and just leave me be. I didn't want to be like this towards her but at this moment I didn't want to talk to her. I just wanted to be ignored for now, Left alone with my own thoughts and memories.

"It's okay. I saw how you looked at him and all. And he looked the same way at you. It's clear to me you're in love."

The new Airbending master smiled as she sat down next to me and looked at the painting I had just made, her bald head shining in the setting sun which made another pang of emotion hit me. She was so much like Aang, both in appearance and in behavior.

"No, it's not like that. Not at all. I'm not in love. I can't be."

I said firmly as I felt my face started to glow at the very idea. Even though that one kiss had given me a strange feeling in my stomach, I couldn't be in love. I had to think about Grovyle. I had to think about P'li, who was still out in the Wood Villages waiting for her memories to get back. After which she would be able to get back to him. Somehow, someday.

"Femke, you don't have to lie to me. You know you can trust me." Jinora said with a smile as she placed a hand on mine."But I'm worried about you. You're in love with someone that tried to kill me. My father. My family… My entire Nation." She looked at me with sad eyes. "Are you still… Do you still think they were right to do that?"

Jinora looked at me insecurely and a bit scared, and I carefully smiled, if only she had been there with me. She would know what he was like, what they had been like. They were no monsters, they were misguided people. Misguided people that only needed a second chance in life.

"Oh Jinora. If only you had been there with me. You could have seen them. They were the most amazing friends someone could wish for."

I smiled at her as I folded back in my sketchbook to a painting I had made during my time with the Red Lotus. All five of us were sitting around the campfire, Zaheer was holding his arms in a strange motion, like he was telling a ghost story, while Ghazan was smirking at Ming Hua.

"The look so normal. Almost like all the things they did doesn't affect them..."

Jinora observed as she looked at the picture that I had been made. I smiled and folded to the next page were Ghazan was putting some toothpaste on Zaheer's nose as the older male was fast asleep, and the next one was P'li, standing behind a tree, giggling behind her hand since she thought I didn't see her, the next was Ming Hua and Ghazan bickering over the last dumpling. I gasped again when I saw what I had painted on the last page. It was a painting of P'li, standing on top of Laghima's Peak, the sun was setting behind her back, making the sky light up red and above her head was the tekst: _'P'li, Laghima's Peak._ __ _'_

"P'li. You made this for her. In honor of her."

Jinora asked gulping as she looked at the cross behind her name with a uneasy look, knowing just as well as I did what that cross meant. It was the day she died.

"If only that was the case. I made this one the day before she died."

I said, feeling tears well up in the corner of my eyes as I let my finger go over the cross again, despite the fact that she wasn't death, I felt like I should have made sure she had stayed behind with Ming Hua and Ghazan.

"Really? How can that be?"

Jinora asked with a curious glance as she looked from the painting to me, realizing this had to mean I knew what was gonna happen to P'li before it really was gonna happen. Something the Avatar had only been able to before. At least for as far as she knew.

"I don't know. I was absent-mindedly painting and suddenly I was looking at this. And believe me, I have showed this to Zaheer. I have tried to make sure it wouldn't happen."

I told her with a stern look as a memory from that day came back to me.

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flashback  
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 _"Zaheer, can... can we talk?"_

 _I asked nervously as I walked up to the older Airbender. I had never been nervous to speak my mind to him, knowing there was normally no reason too. Zaheer was very kind and caring and he wasn't gonna get mad at me like Korra used to but I didn't knew how he was gonna react to what I had just seen._

 _"Sure, Femke. I was just getting the last things ready. You see, Korra has agreed to our terms."_

 _Zaheer said as he stepped aside to let me into the small radio chamber where he had been working in just now. I gulped, holding onto the painting as I walked in and closed the door behind me._

 _"Good to hear. About what I wanted to talk to you about, I think we should leave P'li behind with Ming Hua or Ghazan and take one off them along instead. And not because I don't like P'li or something, but..."_

 _I stammered, seeing how skeptical Zaheer was looking at me at first, then he looked at me with a shocked look, as if he was realizing something before he placed a hand on my lower arm._

 _"What is it? You know you can talk to me. Remember, we're friends."_

 _Zaheer said as he looked at me with that look, the one I always so admired of him. He wasn't showing he was afraid. Not even when he was and he was a true friend. A friend you can always count on even if things were going crazy._

 _"I had a vision in the form of a painting and a dream. And my dream and the painting are predicting nothing good." I said as I placed the painting on the table. Zaheer looked at the painting I had made. It showed P'li on Laghima's Peak with a cross behind it. Meaning P'li wasn't going to come back from Laghima's Peak._

 _"You saw this in the dream?"_

 _Zaheer asked with a shocked look as he let his fingers glide over the painting, unable to believe what I was telling him. Just as much as Korra never trusted me since the Avatar was in her eyes the only one who could have visions like that._

 _"Yes, and I have a bad feeling about Ming Hua and Ghazan as well. I think something Is gonna happen to them. Something bad."_

 _I said as I felt tears of impotent rage and sadness flow over my cheeks since I knew that if Zaheer decided to ignore this now. they would certainly die. A thought I couldn't bear since I cared about them more than I would ever be able to say._

 _"Okay. I'll try my best to change P'li's mind about going with me, but I can't promise she will listen to me. Once her mind is made up, it's hard to change it. Especially if I can't tell her what I now know. That's bound to make her go anyway to prove you wrong"_

 _Zaheer said as he looked at me firmly. I nodded and looked back at the door, where I could hear talking as a sign the others were coming this way as well._

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 _A moment later Femke and the rest off the gang were getting ready to depart. Zaheer hadn't been able to change the minds of his teammates about splitting the group differently, it only made them ask Zaheer why he would do that. Which, after some accusations, made that Femke blurt out that she didn't want them to die and told them about the dreams and the painting. Which set their minds. Everything was going on as planned. They didn't want to let fear get the better of them. Not now that they were so close to their goal._

 _"Guys, be very, very careful okay? I wouldn't forgive myself if any of you got killed."_

 _I said with tears in my eyes as I swung the radio over my shoulder, tears in my eyes as I faced my fellow team members, not realizing this would be the last time I would ever see them alive._

 _"We will, Femke. Take care of yourself, okay?"_

 _Ming hua said as she hugged me around the neck, and so did the others, we shared this small group hug before P'li, Zaheer and I walked into the airship._

 _"We're all gonna be fine, Femke. It was just a dream. Nothing is going to happen, you'll see. Korra surrenders and then everything will get better for all of us."_

 _P'li said as she grabbed me by my hand and let me into the steering room with a smile on my face._

 _'_ _Oh, P'li. If only I had the courage to tell you more about that dream. You wouldn't be so sure of yourself.' I thought as I watched zaheer get the airship afloat and onwards to our doom._

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end of flashback  
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"And what did Zaheer say about it?"

Jinora's voice called me out of my memory. I looked at her with tears in my eyes, the memory of our last group hug and P'li's promise that everything would be okay freshly in my mind. I couldn't bring out the words I was looking for, so I just shook my head as I let tears run over my face freely.

"He believed me and he did his best but he couldn't get his friends to change plans. That marked the end. For all of us."

I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with tears in my eyes. Jinora had a sad look in her eyes as well, probably because she felt the sadness of this story as well.

"That's so sad for you."

Jinora said, even though she didn't know my friends like I did, she knew I was sad they were gone because I had deeply cared about them. That was how Jinora was. She and her sibling had been the only ones that cared about me the way I really was.

 _'_ _That's why I wished she had seen the real them. She would have understood.'_

I thought as i watched Ikki and Meelo storm my way as well, jumping in my lap as they looked at me with bright smiles, happy I was back, though if I had gotten the choice, I had stayed with them.

"Were so happy you're back! Have you missed us? You've turned brown! I heard you can bend lava as well now? And air and combustion and..."

Ikki chimed in actively as she jumped up and down in my lap. I looked at her sternly as I covered up the paintings I had made from the Red Lotus, not feeling the need to show her those before I gently stroked her and Meelo over their heads.

"I'm happy to see you again, I might have indeed turned brown thanks to the time I spend in the sun with them. And what I bend is not your business."

I replied as I looked sternly from Ikki to Meelo before I just got up and left with my tools, not wanting to tell them. Yes, I was a airbender now as well as a Combustion and a Lavabender. They wouldn't understand. They would only tell Tenzin and get me in trouble, which was the last thing i wanted now.

 **"Femke,please wait!"**

Jinora called as the three Airbender kids ran after me. I looked back at them, feeling the need to attack, to strike someone or something. I rather spend my life in jail like Zaheer then here back at the Air Temple where I was ignored and chewed out.

"Listen, I know you're feeling lost right now. But believe me, everything is going to be fine if you give it time. Believe me."

Jinora said as she placed a hand on my upper arm and looked at me with a stern look. I looked back at her, shaking my head at her sadly, knowing it would never be the same as before. I had to miss my friends now, the ones that had been there for me through thick and thin were recovering from the brink of death, without knowing if I would ever see them smile at me again, which I only knew since a few days because Ilena and the others told me right after Zaheer had told me Ming hua and Ghazan had died in battle.

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flashback  
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 _"Femke, can we talk?" Ilena asked me as she walked into the room just as P'li and I were trying to recall some memories, though it was really hard since P'li lost all her memories but I was planning on keeping up trying so she would at least have an idea how her life had been before._

 _"P'li, please get me a glass of water, my throat is as dry as a desert." I smiled as I asked P'li this, feeling this was going to be something between me and Ilena anyway._

 _"Coming up." She said before she walked out of the room, despite the fact that she had been badly injured and lost her memories she was already getting back to her old ways, which made me glad. At least she would be safe and warm here with me._

 _"Thanks for that. Now, I know you heard. You must have heard about what happened to Ming Hua and Ghazan; your other two friends." Ilena said as she looked at me a little nervously, at which I nodded, since I had indeed heard from Zaheer the day before that Ming hua and Ghazan had died in battle as well._

 _"Well, we have scouted the place you mentioned and we have found them. We wanted to take them for a funeral until we noticed they were still breathing." Ilena said as she looked up at me with a small smile._

 _"They did?" I asked gasping as I looked at one of my best friends with a hopeful look in my eyes._

 _"They did. Want to go and see them?" She asked with a small smile on her face. "They're in a coma though, so don't get your hopes up too much. They won't hear you."_

 _Ilena said as she led me to another room where the light was a little dimmed, and there in the beths, lied my two best friends I immediately recognized them despite the fact that their bodies were wrapped in bandages and looked pretty banged up._

 _"Ming. Ghazan." I silently said as I walked to the beds and sat down in between, a sob coming from my throat as I placed a hand on their shoulders._

 _"I'm sorry femke. We could get them out of the ruins but I'm not sure if they will ever wake out of their coma and if they do, how they will be." Ilene said as the blonde placed a hand on my shoulders as tears started flowing down my face, feeling more than horrible, knowing that my friends were all either dying, in jail or without their memories._

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end of flashback  
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"It's not. My friends are gone forever and the last survivor will be locked away."

I replied to Jinora's last comment with my head bowed down, feeling more than horrible thanks to the fact that except for Zaheer all my friends were either dying or didn't remember who I was anymore.

 _'_ _And it is my fault. If I had forced them to stay behind, none of this would have happened.'_ I thought as I felt tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. I was so wrapped in my own thoughts, that I didn't notice Jinora had come to stand next to me. I looked up quite surprised when Jinora placed a hand on my

lower arm, looking me deep in the eye before she pulled me in a hug

making tears run down my cheek.

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And with that hug I end the chapter. I hope you all liked it!

 **A/N:**

Jinora is the wisest and most friendly of the three older airbender kids (Rohan most likely doesn't remember what happened since he was just a baby back then) so it was most likely she would try and help Femke feel a little better after she had been with the Red Lotus for so long.

Femke and Korra have a difficult relationship at the moment. Mostly because femke took the side of Tarrlok, Amon and the Red Lotus (she didn't like Unalaq so she didn't help him), but don't worry this will get better in the end.

Well that was all for now until next time. Don't forget to review.


	2. Chapter 2: after all these years

Chapter 2: After all these years

 **Femke's POV**

The master ceremony of Jinora was so bittersweet. It was sweet because of the beautiful words and the cute father daughter moment between Tenzin and Jinora which made me really happy for her, but when she first showed her shaved head and tattoos I felt tears flow over my face. She was the spitting image of her grandfather; Aang.

 _'_ _I miss you guys. I wish you were all here with me.'_

I thought as I painted Aang behind Tenzin and jinora with Pema and Katara and the other world leaders. A hand on my shoulder as he was looking at his granddaughter proudly since Korra wouldn't have been here if he had still been here and he would have listened to me and let me talk to the Red Lotus members, which would mean they would have been saved. All of them. Not only P'li. After the ceremony I went to my room to color in my picture, letting the door fall in the lock with a soft _'click'._

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_** **3 years later  
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Three boring years passed by after that day in which (for me) nothing interesting happened worth mentioning. Ming Hua and Ghazan are still in a coma and P'li's memory is still gone, though the doctors say she should have gained them back by now. Oh well, they will come back eventually. I hope. Because I can't really get used to P'li as she is right now. She is far too silent and locked away. It's even worse than it used to be. And that says something.

 _'_ _If only you would be able to see Zaheer again. That would bring your memories back for sure.'_

I thought as I was painting absentmindedly while i watched the ceremony that was held to open the new infrastructure of Republic City and after that I watched Mako and Asami catch up with each other after three years of not having seen or heard from each other while some brown haired boy was trying to flirt with Asami who was _(obviously)_ not interested. When he realized this, he gave up and headed my way.

 _'_ _Just great. Like I want to talk with him.'_

I thought, annoyed as I looked at the picture I had made from P'li smiling as I started to color her eyes and then started to give her dress a orange and red color.

"Hey. The name's Prince Wu. I'm the Heir to the Earth Kingdom throne."

The boy said as he leaned against the wall next to me,trying to act cool, but it came over as clumsy. I groaned annoyed in reply and turned away, looking at him annoyingly when he got before me again.

"I'm Femke and not interested in you, so if I were you I should leave me be now."

I said with a sour look on my face, which made that the prince bow his head sadly and walked away, giving me some peace. I sighed in relieve and went to sit in a far corner of the room until we would go home, looking at the pictures of my friends for the sixth time this day, remembering all the good times we had together. The small moments of happiness we have experienced. That was until I heard a rustle and after that there was a piece of paper next to me.

 _'_ _I swear, if it's a love note from that spoiled Prince i'm gonna..!'_

I thought as I picked up the note and opened it, reading a few lines before gasping. It wasn't a love note. It was a note from the Wood Villages' hospital Ming Hua and Ghazan were in.

 _Dear Femke_

 _We have waited three years and yet Ming Hua and Ghazan have not given any sign of live. We have come to the sad conclusion that we will put an end to their suffering at sundown in two days. I hope you understand it's for the best and if you wish to come and say goodbye you're welcome to do so before sundown._

 _Kira Den (Head of Wood Villages Hospital)_

The note said. I gulped as I read it over a few times. At sundown in two days my friends would be no more. I would never see them smile at me again. I looked at the forest with a sad look before i saw a tall figure standing between the trees. I had to blink a few times before i saw who it was. It was P'li, who was obviously standing there because she wanted to speak to me. So I made up a simple lie before I headed to the edge of the woods were P'li was standing still and silently, wearing a cloak, which covered up most of her face, but despite that I recognized her by her eyes.

"P'li? What the heck? You know it is dangerous for you to come here. If they see you..." I told my best friend with an accusing look on my face.

"I know what I did is dangerous."P'li replied as she looked around to make sure no one was listening in on our conversation, which indeed wasn't the case, since Chief Beifong, President Raikou and Lord Zuko were too busy dealing with that Prince, while the members of Team Avatar met up with one another after a long period of time. Well all except Korra, who was still on the North Pole to recover and from what I heard, wasn't still doing very good.

"But I had to see you. After I heard what they're going to do to Ming Hua and Ghazan. I don't remember anything but it sounded harsh." P'li said as she looked at me sadly and placed a hand on mine. "I thought you would like to see me because, well… We used to be friends as…" She stated, but stopped when I suddenly threw my arms around her and hugged her, sobbing.

"I am. And we're still friends. Which is why I was so worried about your wellbeing." I said as I smiled at her.

"I am?" she asked with a surprised look on her face, not believing I still considered her a friend after she had lost her memories.

"Of course." I smiled as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a friendly way. "The fact that you lost all your memories doesn't takes away the fact that we're friends." I said as I gave her a playful push. "Whatever happens, you will always be my friend, P'li." I said smiling.

"P'li? As in the Red Lotus member P'li? I thought you said she died." I heard a voice call from behind me,which made me jump in shock since I had been so busy consoling P'li that I hadn't noticed Tenzin and President Raikou came up to me. We were caught in the act.

 **Normal POV**

"Yes, I know I said that." Femke said as she turned around and looked at President Raikou and Tenzin with a sad look in her eyes. "But she was very weak after the fight on Laghima's Peak and she lost all her memories." She started to tell as she walked towards them a little while she kept holding P'li's hand.

"I lied because i had no other choice. She would have been thrown back in jail without even knowing what she had done wrong if I hadn't stepped in." The brunette said as she looked at P'li with a small smile, then back at the world leaders who looked at each other with a sad look.

"I did what I thought was best for her, Ming Hua and Ghazan, who are also in the Wood Villages' custody. though they're in a coma and..." Femke looked down at the mentioning of her two friends. "Won't come out. They'll put them out of their misery in two days." She said with her head down.

"So you lied to us all along. Just to protect these... these..." Tenzin raged as he looked at Femke angrily, who in return looked up, her eyes shooting daggers at Tenzin as he spoke.

"Don't you dare call them that. They're the only friends I have left in this miserable world." femke glowered at Tenzin as her face turned white with fur, her eyes gleaming yellow as she spoke.

"If it hadn't been for them I had left this misery months ago!" Femke raged, letting out all her bottled up emotions and frustrations of the past few years.

"I... I don't remember anything about what happened." P'li spoke up all of a sudden, which made Femke's face instantly change back to normal.

"But seeing her so enraged, she must have been through a lot of pain and hurt." P'li said as she walked next to Femke and placed a hand on her shoulder, on the place the wound was.

"No one deserves to be treated badly. If there is one thing she learned me the past few days is that it doesn't matters what you look like." The Combustion Bender smiled as she looked at Femke, who nodded smiling in return. "All that matters is that I trust this woman. She is a fairy. Fairies exist. I believe in it now." P'li said, and as she did so, something hit the Combustion Bender's nose. Something white and cold.

" _Snow?"_ President Raikou mumbled as he looked up at the snowflakes with a shocked look.

 _"How can that be? It's Spring. It shouldn't snow here anymore._ " Tenzin mumbled as he looked at the two women. The Fairy and the Combustion Bender. Both suddenly wore brilliant white dresses and had wings on their backs.

"How is this possible?" P'li asked her best friend with a shocked look in her eyes.

"Magic." Femke replied as she looked at the snowflakes with a bright smile on her face.

Meanwhile far away in a unknown cell, Zaheer looked at his chest with a shocked look as a light glowed on his chest on the place where his heart was.

 _"What?"_ Zaheer mumbled.

In the Wood Villages Hospital, the same happened to Ming Hua and Ghazan who were in a coma, the nurse that was just then with them looked at the light gasping, before she kneeled down, recognizing the light from a book she had once read.

 _"The Voortrix have returned."_ She muttered as she looked out of the window where everything had turned white with snow. Something only magic could have done.

Back with Femke and P'li, everyone looked around in awe at the magic snow and the clothes of the two girls that had changed from red and green to white. the sign of purity.

"How did I do this, Femke?" P'li asked her best friend with a shocked look, but as she said this, Femke turned around and looked at her best friend with the same look.

"You said my name." Femke stammered, unable to believe that her best friend had addressed her by name after all these years.

"Of course I did. It's your name, isn't it? We're best friends." P'li asked with a confused look on her face, not getting why her friend was so confused about that all off a sudden.

 **"You remember!"** Femke exclaimed in a very excited way as she ran over to her best female friend and pulled her in a hug, happy her memories were restored after three years of waiting.

 **"You're right!"** P'li exclaimed as she and Femke jumped around screeching, after which a column of snow suddenly started to swirl around P'li, who looked at Femke with widened eyes, while Femke nodded with a smile on her face, as the magic made her now white clothes into a orange and red mini skirt with brilliant red glowing wings on her back and the sign of her third eye tattoo on her chest, her hair went into a long braid like she had always worn it with two eye formed clips on either side of her head.

"Li you're… you're beautiful!" Femke gasped as the light cleared. P'li looked at herself with a shocked look.

"But how is this possible?" P'li managed to bring out as she looked at her best friend with a shocked look in her eyes, then back at her wings.

"Your strong connection with the Voortrix. Just like with Zaheer!" Femke said as she beamed at her friend, who gasped in delight, after which we shared another hug, screaming like two teenagers to show how happy we were.

 **"Wait until Ming, Ghazan and Zaheer see this!"** P'li exclaimed as she flapped her wings a little, looking at them in an excited way. "They will love to hear this." At this I bowed my head and looked to the side, knowing in two days Ming Hua and Ghazan would never be able to hear about her new fairy powers again. Though this was something I hadn't told P'li yet since she didn't remember them anyway.

"What is it?" P'li asked shocked when she noticed Femke looked to the side, clearly seeing something was up with the younger girl.

"li... I hate to bring it you but that isn't going to happen." Femke sighted as she looked up at her best friend with a sad look in her eyes. "You have had amnesia for three years, they have been in coma for the same amount of time and..." Femke stammered as she looked at her best friend with tears in her eyes who was now shaking her head in disbelieve.

"They're going to put them out of their misery in two days. I'm sorry." Femke sobbed as she looked at her friend with a sad look in her eyes.

"And Zaheer?" She managed to ask weakly, feeling everything was collapsing around her right there and then.

"In jail. They arrested him after Korra defeated him." Femke said before she gave P'li a stern look, "Which reminds me; did you know Zaheer wanted to poison her and kill her in the Avatar state?" Femke asked looking at her best friend with a firm look, since even though she wasn't very fond of Korra, she wouldn't let anyone end the Avatar cycle, knowing it was needed to keep this world balanced. Not to mention murdering people, no matter how much you disliked them, was wrong.

"Yes. Zaheer did mention he wanted to kill Korra in the Avatar state using that poison." P'li admitted as she looked at her best friend with a sad look in her eyes.

"Why? I mean, I know Korra and I will never be the best of buddies like when she was still Aang, but I would never have agreed to end the Avatar line." Femke said firmly as she looked angrily at P'li, feeling betrayed by her best friend, just as she had gotten her back.

"We did what we thought was best for the world! " P'li snapped at Femke angrily as she looked away a little. "But… Looking back on it now, it was a bad thing we did... huh?" P'li asked as she looked at Femke with a sad look in her eyes. "Yeah, though I can't blame you to much really. I mean, it wasn't like you had anywhere else you could go." Femke said with a smile on her face as she placed a hand on her friend's arm…

"I could…. Xai Bau offered to bring me somewhere and put me in a nice family. It was all my choice." P'li said as she looked at Femke with a small smile, remembering the time Xai Bau had offered her to bring her to a nice loving family in exchange for P'li leaving the Red Lotus to him and zaheer. P'li had refused then, because she had been determined to prove to Xai Bau that she could handle whatever he and his Red Lotus people wanted to do and ever since she and Zaheer had gotten into a relationship, she hadn't even thought about leaving again

"Well, it's a bit late for that now isn't it? Let's just agree we will never try and do something like that again." Femke smiled as she hugged her friend

"I will." P'li promised as she hugged back, happy Femke wanted to stay their friend, her friend even though she knew everything about the plans and missions of the Red Lotus. Since the mission failed and Zaheer was in jail, probably forever _(do she hoped he wouldn't have to since she still loved him)_ she didn't feel bad about promising Femke to never try and do something like that ever again.

"So I guess I too owe you some apologies." P'li said as she turned to team Avatar and the world leaders now, suddenly realizing they were standing there and were watching them.

"I'm truly sorry for all the harm I caused you and your loved ones and I hope with all my heart..." P'li said as she placed a hand on her heart. "That you will believe me when I say that it won't happen again. I hope you can find it in you someday, somehow, to forgive me." the Combustion Bender said, tears glinting as she said this, looking from Tenzin to the other with a sad look in her eyes.

"Give us a reason why we should believe a word you say." Lin said to the younger girl angrily, not believing a word she said. "How can we be sure you won't stab us in the back once we turn our backs on you?" She continued at P'li, who looked down apologetically.

"Because I was misguided back then. As I said; filled with hatred towards World Leaders because of that Warlord Mogui did to me." P'li said as she turned towards Femke and as she did so they could all see the tears blink in her eyes, the things Warlord Mogui had done to her were still deeply rooted within her. That was one thing Femke knew for sure. When they saw P'li cry, the World Leaders and the Chief of Republic City Police looked at each other with a sad look in their eyes.

"We knew there were still Warlords left. We have dealt with several over the years." Tenzin said as he looked down with a sad look on his face.

"Is that Mogui still alive?" Raikou asked figuring they could at least bring this man to justice if he was still alive, since he had obviously put this girl on the path of the Red Lotus.

"Maybe he can pay for what he has done to you." Tenzin tried, they knew that Warlords often held children with as their soldiers, there was little they could do about it, because they didn't had the resources to fight all of them.

"Well, no. Zaheer killed him when he set me free, knowing he would do whatever he could do get me back if he hadn't." P'li said as she looked from Tenzin to Raikou and then to Chief Beifong with a sad look in her eyes.

"Oh." Raikou simply said as he looked down. "So, the Earth Queen wasn't the first one he murdered." Tenzin asked firmly, and it was the truth, even though it had been to save P'li, a murder was a murder.

"Yes." P'li said firmly "But he did it with a good reason. My parents sold me to that monstrous Warlord when I was five. I was fourteen when Zaheer set me free." P'li continued as she gave Femke a meaningful nod, who nodded in return, giving her best friend some moral support. "In the end it turned out I lived nine horrible years by that man, with only his wife Ti and some soldiers that pitied me as little rays of hope." P'li said as she placed a hand on her tattooed forehead.

"All because of the talents she had. How fair is that?" Femke questioned as she placed a hand on her friends back, who was on the verge of crying.

"You know her whole history?" Tenzin asked somewhat surprised as he looked from Femke to P'li, since he hadn't expected the Red Lotus members to tell their personal history to Femke. Both because of their secrecy during their time in jail and the fact that Femke hadn't been with them for longer than two months.

"Yes, but I promised I would never tell anyone else about their personal history and I want to stay true to that promise if you don't mind."

Femke said sternly as she gave P'li a small smile, at which P'li reacted with a beaming look, happy her friend wanted to keep true to her promise, despite everything that had happened.

"We understand you wanted that and we will try and respect your wish. Though you really got us interested now, how did you make them tell you in such a short time?"

Tenzin asked as he looked at Femke. "I didn't make them. I just asked and, well... After I promised never to reveal their secret , they told me." Femke said calmly.

"Unbelievable." Tenzin said, somewhat shocked that Femke managed to earn the trust of these people and got them to tell their lives stories.

"P'li, do you know about any Warlords that might be active except your former master?" Raikou asked sternly.

"Yes. Mogui often went to other Warlords for his work, mostly to see if they had found any Combustion Benders he could add to his army." P'li said, remembering Mogui often went off for business travels, which allowed Miss Ti to help her.

 _000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
flashback  
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 _It was a two years after P'li was bought. Mogui suddenly had to go off for a business trip to the Northern part of the Kingdom and he had given his wife strict instructions. P'li had to stay in her cell and wasn't to be talked to. Ti had said she understood but on the inside she had already made up her mind, she would give that poor child some food and comfort, she would love that for sure._

 _'_ _Since the poor child has little experience with it.'_ _She thought as she waved her husband a good journey and after that waited until the last soldiers had left, before she almost ran towards the cell blocks were P'li was._

 _'_ _Now let's hope the poor child is alright.'_

 _Ti thought as she walked towards the door she knew P'li was behind carefully, as to not scare the poor child and praying to all the spirits she was alright, sighing in relieve when she saw the poor child was there, looking up with a scared gaze as her mistress walked in. Seven years old. Tall for her age, covered in rags. Yet her eyes, Ti saw her eyes still spoke of hope, love and above all, of forgiveness._

 _"Hello P'li." Ti smiled as she very carefully walked to the little girl, knowing she was very easily scared, hungry and cold. Though that would soon come to a stop. Ti knew that for a fact._

 _"Good day, Mistress." P'li smiled a little shy, knowing her Master had told her quite strictly she wasn't allowed to come here and yet she was here now, which gave P'li a fine warm feeling, since she knew Ti was a nice woman that cared about her deeply._

 _"Your master won't be here for a few weeks so I will take care off you. Come on, little one."_

 _Ti smiled as she stretched out her arms towards P'li, who crawled away from her, absolutely terrified because of all the things Mogui had said and done to her. Ti knew this as well and gently sat on the floor as close to the child as she could, holding out her arms towards the child, which made P'li only duck closer into the wall, not understanding the good intentions of her Mistress._

 _"You poor darling. Come on, I'm not going to bite. How does a bowl of hot soup and a nice bath sound to you?"_

 _Ti asked as she showed P'li the key of her chains which she held in her hand._

 _"_ _Like a dream come true." P'li whispered as she now allowed Miss Ti to take her chains of and what P'li said was the truth back then. A hot bath? Nice warm soup? Not in her wildest dreams. Only real children like the son of the mister and the mistress named Hong Lee had the right to get things like that,_

 _"You know what?" Ti asked as she scooped up the frightened child and put it on her arm where it was safe and warm. "Since Mogui won't be here for some time you don't have to sleep here either." Ti said, and as she said '_ _here'_ _she nodded to the wooden plank that was her bed. "I have a nice warm bed in the attic with a beautiful outlook over the forest that has your name on it." Ti said as she hugged the child, that let out the smallest giggle Ti had ever heard from a child._

 _"The master will never allow that." P'li stumbled as Ti carried her inside their house, then went upstairs and started to gather some tools before she carried her into a light bathroom that looked beautiful in the eyes of the seven year old that had never in her life been treated like a human child before._

 _"Mogui can bite me. You deserve to be treated like a human being. Get decent clothes, toys and a nice hot bath like any normal seven year old." Ti whispered in the child's ear, who listened to the kind woman like in a trance, as her sweet voice whispered kind words in her ears while she got bathed dried of with a nice soft towel after that she put some ointment on the wounds to heal them up faster, before she carefully put the child in her arms again and took her downstairs to a cozy looking kitchen._

 _"And now I just know you're hungry." Ti smiled as she put P'li on a chair that was made a little higher with a pillow so a younger child could sit in a normal chair while it was high enough for it to reach the table._

 _"Yes, please." P'li replied with a small smile, looking up with a surprised look as the son of her master and mistress named Hong Lee came out of nowhere from wherever he had been playing and sat on the other higher chair next to her._

 _"Hey P'li, you here as well?" The six year old asked with a small smile on his face, since he wasn't scared of P'li. His mother had taught him from a very young age that P'li was just a human being like everyone else and that he shouldn't fear her. This was why he always secretly went to P'li to play with her whenever his father wasn't teaching his new friend Bending._

 _"Miss Ti said I was allowed to come here now that my Master isn't here." P'li said a little shyly as she accepted a bowl soup from Miss Ti and started to eat from it hungrily._

 _"Daddy can be very mean, huh?" Hong Lee asked smiling as he took a bowl of soup as well and started to eat. At this P'li looked up at him with a shocked expression, her spoon still halfway to her mouth while Ti turned around and looked at her son, also shocked, since this was the first time Hong Lee said something bad about his father._

 _"Your father is a unique man, that knows what's good for a weapon like me." P'li stated calmly, not letting Hong Lee trick her into saying a bad thing about her master, even though he was one of her only friends, knowing she would be in a lot of trouble if her master found out she did say a bad thing about him, which always happened to her._

 _"P'li, sweety, you are allowed to say if you don't like Mogui." Ti said as she put her spoon down and walked to a scared looking P'li. "We know you have difficulties with that, that you're scared of him. But Hong Lee and I want to help you." Ti said as she placed a warm hand on the child's arm._

 _"I won't tell daddy if you say a bad word about him either, Li. I promise." Hong Lee stated firmly as he wrapped his arms around his one year older friend with a smile on his face, at which P'li reacted by bursting out in tears since she wasn't used to a gesture like that, at which Ti wrapped her arms around the child._

 _"There, there. Let it all out. You deserve to let all those bottled up emotions out." Ti whispered in her ear as she gently stroke her over her back, which p"li did. In the end she cried herself to sleep, feeling amazing because she had been able to do so._

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end of flashback  
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"Very tragic, but don't think that you will be welcome in Republic City with open arms just because of your tragic past." Raikou said firmly, which snapped P'li out of her thoughts.

"Well, we kinda hoped you would give us a second chance since like we said; were both very sorry for all the harm we caused." Femke said as she looked at raikou with a sad look in her eyes.

"Certainly not. You're an accomplish in a murder, Femke. And your friends murdered two people. She just admitted to that." Raikou said firmly as he took a step towards Femke. "Lin, arrest them," Raikou turned to the Chief of Police, who nodded and immediately bended a metal cable towards the two girls, but Femke managed to bend them away and before anyone could do anything, they were gone, Back to the Wood Villages.

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And with that said I end my chapter. I sure hope you all enjoyed it.

 **A/N:**

I had some difficulties writing this chapter since I wanted it to be a mixture of the Season Four episode one of the Legend of Korra and another main event; P'li getting her memories back. I was listening to 'Snow in August' from the Movie 'Nanny McPhee' while writing this, so that's where the scene is based on _(believe me I get many idea's from listening to certain music)_. I don't own the scene.

I had to use a time skip in order to keep the story moving to the part where the Legend of Korra picked up the story, since I had no idea what happened in between the two seasons.

Now P'li has her memories back we will see more flashbacks about her past, please keep them all in mind, their playing a role in the story later.

Well that was all for now!

Thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to **review.**


	3. Chapter 3: Ming hua and Ghazan

Chapter 3: Ming Hua and Ghazan

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs that are included in this story. They're all owned by Disney and Pixar. I only picked them because they fitted perfectly in the story.**_

 **Normal POV**

Two days later, Femke and P'li walked into the hospital of the Wood Villages, both with bouquet of flowers in their hands and wearing a black gown as they entered the small room where their friends lied, both of them wearing a simple gown and suit in the colors of the nation they were from and a crown of flowers around their heads. For P'li this was the first time she saw her friends since they had parted ways three years ago, and seeing them now on their dying bed, made her collapsed on the side of their beds, crying.

"Ming, Ghazan. I remember now. I remember everything. Please. Please open your eyes." P'li begged as she placed a hand on Ghazan's hand and her other hand on Ming Hua's shoulder.

"It's no use, Li. They can't hear you." Femke sadly said as she sat down next to P'li and placed a hand on her arm, tears blinking in her eyes as she did so.

"I just have my memories back and now we have to say goodbye to them." P'li sadly said as she looked up at Femke, also with tears in her eyes.

"I know, but they will be In Heaven, Li." Femke said, sniffing as she rubbed the Combustion Bender over her back. "There they can always see us, they will always watch over us." She said with a smile on her face, hoping this would cheer her friend up a little.

"That doesn't take away I will miss them." P'li said as she looked down at her friends with tears in her eyes.

"I know, but there is nothing we can do for them anymore. We have waited three years for them to come back." Femke said as she looked at the motionless bodies of her friends, one in a suit and the other in a sleeveless dress that looked very beautiful on her.

"Femke, you have spoken of _'heaven'_ multiple times. How can you be so sure it exists?" P'li asked as she looked down at her best friend with a small smile on her face.

"Because I believe and many people on Earth share that believe. A belief in a God that acts out of love towards all of his children." Femke smiled as she folded her best friend's hands, so it looked like he was in peace.

"And you think they're in heaven now? With this God you believe in?" P'li questioned as she smiled at Ghazan, imagining him hanging out with Ming Hua in heaven right now.

"Yes and I also know they can look to Earth from Heaven so they can see us from time to time." Femke smiled as she wrapped her arms around her best friend in a comforting way

"Even Zaheer?" P"li asked as she placed her hand on her best friend's arm.

"I am certain they can see him as well." Femke smiled as she hugged her friend around her neck.

"I sure hope so. Then they would at least be able to be happy." P'li started, but stopped when she started to sob again, which made Femke look down for a moment, not knowing what she should do, that was when she thought about a old song she had heard in one of her favorite movies and she started to sing:

 _I don't know if You can hear me_

 _Or if You're even there_

 _I don't know if You would listen_

 _To a Gypsy's prayer_

 _Yes, I know I'm just an outcast_

 _I shouldn't speak to you_

 _Still I see Your face and wonder_

 _Were You once an outcast too?_

Femke started to sing with a soft voice. This made P'li look up at her surprised, since that was exactly what the Red Lotus members were in her eyes. Outcasts.

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Hungry from birth_

 _Show them the mercy_

 _They don't find on earth_

 _God help my people_

 _We look to You still_

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Or nobody will_

 _I ask for wealth_

 _I ask for fame_

 _I ask for glory to shine on my name_

 _I ask for love I can posess_

 _I ask for God and His angels to bless me_

Ilena, Dizanna and Selvia sang the last part as they came in as well, having heard the song, which they knew pretty well as well, and they wanted to help Femke to cheer up their friend.

 _I ask for nothing_

 _I can get by_

 _But I know so many_

 _Less lucky than I_

 _Please help my people_

 _The poor and downtrodden_

 _I thought we all were_

 _The children of God_

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Children of God_

As the song ended Femke was just as much in tears as her friend. Smiling as she looked at her two unconscious friends, knowing they would have heard this as well from heaven. "That was beautiful, Femke." P'li said as she smiled down at her two friends as the nurse came in, seeing they were still hugging and left them alone for a little more.

"We better go now. This is goodbye." Femke said softly to her two motionless friend as she sat by their sides and took Ghazan's hand In hers and placed her other hand on Ming Hua's shoulder. "Thanks for everything. Really. Without you I wouldn't have known what I had done with myself." She sniffled as she placed her head on P'li's shoulder for comfort.

"We will let you go now. You can always see us and Zaheer wherever he might be now." Femke felt her voice broke and a moment later she started to break down into sobbing "Just… just don't try to drive each other nuts up there okay?" Femke sobbed as she and P'li shared a small smile remembering all the their squibbles.

"We will miss you. But this is for the best," Femke cried as she now placed Ghazan's hand on Ming Hua's shoulder and got up, holding P'li by her shoulders as she did so.

"We love you. Thanks for a great lifetime together. Goodbye for now. Until we meet again." P'li quietly said as she walked back to her friends and gave them each a kiss on their cheek as she did so, she could have sworn she felt Ghazan's breathing increase.

"Femke. He is breathing." P'li stumbled as she looked up at Femke with a shocked look.

"Of course he is, they… they didn't give the shot yet." Femke sobbed as she held out her arm for her best friend.

"No, I mean it increased… Like he is waking up…" P'li said as she looked at the body of her best friend with a stunned look, unable to believe she what she had just heard and what she saw next, namely that Ghazan's fingertips moved.

 **"See!? He moved!"** P'li said as she pointed to the fingertips just as they relaxed again and went back to how it had been before.

"That could just as well have been an automatic reflex…" Femke started, but stopped as she gasped in shock when she saw Ghazan's whole hand moved this time. _"It can't be…"_ She mumbled as she looked at her friend's hand moving, before she almost ran to the side of his bed and bended over him to listen to his heartbeat, which suddenly seemed stronger as well now.

 **"Ghazan! Ghazan, can you hear me?"** Femke asked with widened eyes as Ming Hua behind her started to move as well.

 _"Hmmm..."_ Ghazan moaned.

 **"Get the respirator, they're waking up!"** Femke called now as she stormed to the door. A nurse immediately came to check and started to do her job.

 **"Ming! Ming is waking up!"** P'li gasped in as tears of joy started to appear on her face, running to Femke who pulled her into a hug

"It's a miracle. It's a miracle!" Femke said as she hugged her best friend, tears of both joy and relief streaming down her face as she did so.

"Can someone please explain why this is a miracle?" Ming Hua muttered as she opened her eyes. "I got knocked out in a fight. It happens." She said as she looked from Femke to P'li with a raised eyebrow.

"You weren't. You've been in a coma for almost three years." Femke said as she sat on the side of her bed and hugged her.

"I'm so happy! That said there's… something you need to know. About your legs..." Femke carefully said, remembering the nurses had told her that Ming Hua's legs had been too heavily damaged by the electrocution that they had to be amputated. "What in the hell are you…?" She started but stopped as she managed to bend some water a small vase on the room's table into makeshift arms and lifted the blanket.

 _"Oh."_ she stated simply as her face turned somewhat pale.

"Your legs were too heavily damaged by Mako's electric attack. They couldn't save them anymore." Femke said as she looked down "I am sorry." She said as she looked down.

"Like you should be, considering you weren't there and both look quite alright." Ming Hua snapped as she looked at Femke angrily.

"We are fine right now, we weren't at the moment of the last fight." Femke said as she moved her shirt down a little so Ming Hua could see the scar on her shoulder in the form of a spiral.

 **Femke's POV**

"Wow. A scar. Totally worse than having no limbs at all. But whatever. What happened?" Ming Hua asked as she looked up at Femke with a sour look.

"P'li... The Beifong sisters almost got her." I said as I looked down, thinking about that last awful moment on Laghima's Peak when I realized my dream was about to come true.

"I leaped in to save her without Lin getting hit in the process. It was my only option." I said as I looked at my lap, and it was the truth. I could have just bended the metal away from her head, but then Lin would have been hit and Lin had been too tired to move away. If that hit had reached her, she would have been done for and even though Lin hated me, we were family.

"That sounds dandy." Ghazan smirked as a doctor and a nurse came in, helping out the two, since they were still weak. "Alright, now stay still… You've been laying down for three years, that's going to have some after effects." I heard the man say as he walked to Ghazan and went to sit by his side, looking him straight into the eye until Ghazan just rolled his eyes, because he couldn't bear being coddled.

"Sir, can you tell me your name and where you are from?" The doctor asked calmly.

"Yeah, my name is Ghazan Lee, born in the lowest ring of Ba Sing Se now Thirty-Seven years ago." Ghazan replied mimicking the doctor's voice, which got me giggling.

"Noted." The doctor said as he took Ghazan's pulse and temperature.

"Doctor, could it be all this had something to do with that strange light we saw before?" The nurse asked as she sat down on the side of Ming Hua's bed and started to take tests by her as well.

"Light? What light?" I asked surprised as I looked from the older man to the nurse with a surprised look in my eyes.

"Well, two days ago around the afternoon, a strange light emitted from their chests. It was yellow and had the form of a V and a T crossing one another." The nurse said as she looked at us sternly, which made me gasp at P'li.

"Around the afternoon? That is when that happened." I told P'li as I shot her a firm look. P'li looked back at me slightly confused, before she gasped in realization.

 **"My powers. That's when I unlocked my Voortrix powers!"** P'li exclaimed. The afternoon. That is when it happened." I told P'li.

"Those vague powers we have seen from Zaheer once, you mean those?" Ming Hua asked as she looked from P'li to me with a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes. Through a strong bond with her inner Voortrix and with me she unlocked the Voortrix buried deep inside of her." I explained as a a feeling suddenly took me over. As the nurse had seen that light with Ming Hua and Ghazan as well and maybe Zaheer felt it as well. That could mean three new Voortrix had been born alongside us. I looked from the nurse to my friends now with a shocked look at the idea of three new Voortrix that came into existence because of the deep bond that had always been inside our group.

 **Ming Hua's POV**

"You're awfully quiet all of a sudden, Femke." P'li asked Femke after a moment of silence as she gave her friend a worried glance. Femke indeed had fallen silent after that nurse had said something vague about a light. Right on the same time or something. It happened to P'li, though it all sounded strange to me.

"I was just thinking." Femke replied as she looked from P'li to me with a stern look in her eyes. "Here we go again. You're sounding like Zaheer." I sighed as I gave the nurse that held a needle a firm glance to warn her she better do things right.

"Ming, I meant to say; that light the nurse saw appeared on the exact same time as when P'li somehow unlocked her fairy powers." Femke said and as I was distracted by what she had just said i felt a sting in my shoulder, as a sign the nurse had given me the injection.

"You mean the same thing we saw by Zaheer? That strange light back then?"

Ghazan asked somewhat confused, and believe me if they could my eyes would have rolled right out of my skull. Ghazan can be so gullible. Unlike me. My parents had made sure I wouldn't be able to believe in anything childish. Ever.

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 _Flashback_

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 _I was born without arms, which made it so my mother had to carry me around the first few months of my life to keep me entertained, which annoyed her to no end. She learned me to stand on my own feet and care for myself as soon as I had the age for it. That way I wasn't a burden to them so much anymore. All they now had to endure was my constant questions and the fact that I ate, drank and breathed._

 _"Seriously, child! Stop asking so many questions! It's not like anyone is going to answer, anyway!' My mother often snapped at me if I was curiously walking around the house again, asking whatever crossed my young mind as new and odd._

 _"Mom, I just want to know why..." I started, but stopped as my mother shot me a deathly glare._

 _"Don't talk to me, you little misinformed brat or no dinner for you!" My mother snapped at me. This made me run into my room and hide in a corner with my only plush which I had named Ami, feeling more than miserable because I didn't get dinner that evening..._

 _"Spirits, you're so skinny. Do you eat enough?"_

 _The older woman that was my aunt Ti asked. And before anyone in the room could protest my aunt had put an second plate of food before me, at which I threw herself hungrily._

 _"Ti. We're trying to teach her a lesson. Take back your plate and leave her be."_

 _My father Hong Hua sternly said as he looked at me with a stern look, making me nervously crawl a little more towards my aunt for protection, feeling aunt Ti was kind and caring, unlike my parents._

 _ **"Hong, she's just a child. You can't deprive her from food. That's inhumane!"**_

 _Aunt Ti Hua raged. She looked at me with a look full of pity, as she gently wrapped her arm around my three year old self and pulled me close, making me immediately feel safe and relaxed in her arms since she hadn't screamed at me. Not even once. Which was at that point of my life something that was very rare._

 _"Poor child. You know, tomorrow it's going to be just you and me. You'll see, it's going to be fun."_

 _Aunt Ti smiled as she gently kissed me on my cheek. I looked at her while beaming brightly when she said this, liking the idea of spending a whole day with my nice, caring aunt instead of my parents who were always mean and didn't seemed to care about me at all._

 _The rest of the next day was perfect. Aunt let me say what i wanted to say. Be happy, free, like a normal child. For one amazing day I was just me. It felt amazing. That day ended way too soon for my liking._

 _I never saw aunt Ti again afterwards._

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 _End of flashback_

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 **"You think we have magic as well then, right? Cool!"** Ghazan called, which snapped me out of my memories and made me look at Ghazan with a raised eyebrow.

"Magic? us? Come on. It was already hard to believe Zaheer was magic but us?" I snapped, not believing in that kind of nonsense, those things only existed in fairy tales.

"I think it's possible you two have the same magic. If you want to I can teach you how to control your magic." Femke offered as she looked at me with a small smile on her face.

"That would be great." Ghazan replied, as I looked away. I had too many bad memories about learning to use my waterbending.

 _ **"Bend the water like you mean it!"**_

I heard my father's voice rage at me as my younger self was trying to master a very simple technique.

 _ **"Why? Why did the spirits curse me with a useless armless girl?"**_

My father's voice scolded me, which made me clamp my water arms over my ears, making myself as small as possible to protect myself from the memories.

 _ **"You already were useless and now you lost your legs as well! You will never become powerful."**_

The voice of my father called into my head.

 **"Go away!"** I called out, not realizing that i must have called that out loud until suddenly Femke's arms wrapped themselves around my waist.

 **Femke's POV**

From the moment I had started talking about Voortrix training with Ghazan, I noticed Ming Hua started to act rather strange. At first I thought she thought it all to be nonsense and that this was why she was acting like this but suddenly she started clamping her ears. I heard her moan words like _'not a freak'_ and _'I can be as strong as I want to be'_ which made me realize the whole training thing must have brought up the trauma of her past training with her horrible bastard of a father.

 _'Poor Ming. She suffered a lot under that bastard.'_ I thought as I reached out and pulled my friend in a hug, which made her relax slightly.

"Calm down Ming. It's okay. It won't be as horrible as back then. You will see." I reassured her as I stroked her over her back with a smile on my face, trying to cheer up my friend, who was right now looking horrible.

"Femke? I thought you said your friends were on the verge of dying." The voice of Raikou called out just as I wanted to ask Ghazan if he knew a way to snap Ming Hua out of whatever was causing her to be distressed. Now I looked up with horror in my eyes as president Raikou and Tenzin stood in the doorway of the hospital room and looked at us with a shocked look as I still held Ming Hua.

"They were, just as they wanted to administer the final injection, they snapped out of it." I said as I looked at the nurse that just then came in, who immediately nodded in reply .

"The two came out of their coma right before we wanted to end it. Great luck, I guess." the nurse said as she went to fetch the doctor who gave them all the reports of the duo that showed they indeed have been in a deep coma for three year and only got out recently, before ushering them out of the room.

"Femke, would you mind explaining how they knew we're alive?" Ghazan asked casually. "They saw P'li when she came to see me a few days ago. They were already pissed I lied about her being alive so I rather told them you two lived as well so they wouldn't get pissed at me more." I replied with a small smile on my face, which made Ghazan nod in reply with a smirk.

"If Ming was aware, she would have probably freaked out and tell you to get us the hell out of here." Ghazan said as he pointed to Ming Hua who still sat in my lap with her water arms clamped over her ears.

"We probably should, before they come back." I said as I carefully got up and shifted Ming Hua in my arm, clamping her close as I held out my other hand to the remainder of the group, who took it, all smiling at me as we held hands, just as Raikou came back in.

 _ **"Terra Teleportius!"**_ I called loudly _'Goodbye, Tenzin. We will meet again someday, hopefully under better circumstances._ ' I thought as I looked at Tenzin's shocked face as everything started to spin around us faster and faster, until the room of the Wood Villages' hospital had fully disappeared and we were on our way to my home back on Earth.

 _ **00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**_

And with that I end the chapter. Next up will be Femke's homecoming, and of course, the Red Lotus crew meeting our Earth, since it will most likely be as it is now. If you're curious to find what is going to happen next, be sure to keep reading!

Thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as a Beta reader.


	4. Chapter 4: Grovyle's Goodbye

Chapter 4: Grovyle's Goodbye

 **Normal POV**

There was a flash of light and suddenly the four Red Lotus members stood in the small but comfortable living room of Femke's adoptive mother, who looked up from her book as the light disappeared and suddenly her adopted daughter and three for her unown people stood in the living room.

"Whenever will you learn to knock before barging in?" She sighed as she placed her book down and got up.

"Glad to be home as well." Femke joked as she gave her adoptive mother a hug, then looked around. "Where is that lazy husband of mine? I had thought he would come jolting down as soon as he heard me." Femke said after she had pulled away from the hug, careful as to not get Ming Hua squeezed in the process, knowing she hated that.

"Well, he hasn't shown himself in quite some time, he told me he had some things he wanted to work out. He seemed a bit sad you were gone for so long." Femke's mother, named Anna, replied with a sad look on her face, since she had been sad herself as well that her daughter had been gone for such a long time.

"I know I was, mom, I am glad to be home at last." Femke smiled as she now looked at her friends, who had been patiently waiting to be seen and introduced. "But the portals were locked. I couldn't get through until now." Femke explained as she put Ming Hua on the bench, who slowly started to wake up a few minutes later.

"Where are we?" She asked as she looked around.

"My house on Earth." Femke answered with a smile on her face, which made Ming Hua look at her firmly.

"Not funny." Ming Hua said as she looked up at her friend angrily, but when she saw her friends nod, she turned sighed, since their nod had obviously meant Femke was telling the truth.

"Mom, I want you to meet my friends and fellow Voortrix members; P'li, Ming Hua and Ghazan." Femke smiled as she pointed to each of her friends while saying this.

"Welcome to earth, it's an honor to meet you all." Femke's mother smiled as she gave them each a hand.

"Everybody, this is my mother Anna." Femke said to her friends who smiled at her friendly.

"We're also anarchists who almost got our world messed up. But we're off that path now." Ghazan said calmly. This made anna giggle.

"Well, that isn't the first time femke went on rampage. You should have seen her before I adopted her." Anna said as she got a photo from the nearby closet and handed it to them. showing a very skinny and filthy version of Femke, pointing a gun at the camera with a scared look in her eyes.

"You look like a real threat. Nice." Ghazan said as he looked at the photo with a small grin on his face.

"That was Femke a few days after i adopted that she was the most feared enemy of the police." Anna said as she showed the Red Lotus members her old identity paper that had a mark in it " ** _MFEOP"_** it said. "She knew no mercy for those that crossed her path until that fateful night." Anna said, this made that Femke turned red from ear to ear and went to stop her mother.

"Mom, they don't have to know that." Femke said firmly as she looked at her stepmother with a scared look in her eyes.

"Come on Femke. We want know now. We told you ours." Ghazan said, which earned him a glare from Ming Hua.

"If she doesn't wants to tell, don't force her to speak." She snapped, then looked at Femke who now smiled. knowing they would find out sooner or later. It was for the best she told them now. Now she could tell her own version of the story.

 **Femke's POV**

"Well, Toph **is** my daughter but I think I never quite mentioned who her biological father was." I started to tell.

"No, you didn't." Ghazan calmly said.

"That's because I'm quite ashamed of how it happened." I said as I looked down.

"One night stand?" Ming Hua managed to ask, catching on fast like she always did. I nodded, unable to say the words myself.

"Not something I expected from you." Ming Hua commented as she looked at Femke.

"Yeah. Though later he and I found each other by accident and we started to search for Toph and her brothers and sisters." I said.

"So Toph has siblings, huh? That means Lin and Su have aunts and uncles." Ghazan said as he looked at Femke with a bright smile.

"How many?" P'li asked, which made me scratch the back of my head in a thinking look.

"Don't ask how but...sixteen." I said as I kept scratching the back of my head with a sheepish smile on my face. "At the same time."

"What." Ming Hua said to me with a gasp as she and P'li looked at me with widened eyes.

"I really have no idea why but according to Daniel it was a side effect of me being bitten by that werewolf. right before that one night stand." I said as I remembered that was the only thing he had been able to come up with as explanation for what had occurred, especially since all sixteen babies looked different as well.

"After the birth, I was broken. It was February and it was cold. I hadn't eaten properly for days. I thought I was dying." I said as I looked down with a sad look

"So I gave the babies away to good people to at least save them." I said as I shook my head to shake the bad memory away from me

"So that's how Toph ended up by the Beifongs." Ming Hua said as she put a water arm on my shoulder.

"Yes. The youngest; Dylan died because of someone who worked for Lord Darkar. Daniel and I tried to save him but..." I started, but stopped as I heard my own younger voice call out.

 _"Daniel!_ _ **NO!**_ _"_

"That must have been awful for you." P'li said as she wrapped her arms around her best friend in a comforting way.

"Yeah, I was heartbroken. That was, until i found Grovyle with whom I saved this world." I smiled, remembering the Future of Darkness and how Grovyle, Cristie, Leda, Celebi,Dusknoir _(after he redeemed himself)_ and I beat Primal Dialga in the future, saving humanity from a fate worse than death, during which Grovyle and I had gotten married and got a daughter whom we named Christie, Leda,Celebi the thief, after our friends with whom we saved the world.

"That is amazing. You saved the world from a disaster like that, fought an amazing strong creature and won." P'li beamed after I had told them the story.

"Not just any strong Pokémon. This one was considered a Deity. The Deity of Time." I corrected her, which made all of them gasp in shock. Even Ghazan.

"A Deity? Really?" He beamed as I nodded and got up.

"Yes he was, come on! I can't wait to introduce you to them" I now beamed as I took P'li by her hand and pulled her on her feet.

"But if there not here, where are they then?" P'li asked as Ghazan got up as well, while Ming Hua bended some of the water that was in the air around us to make water arms and legs, so she could get up as well.

"In the encampment, which is nearby. If you like we can walk there." I smiled as I led them to the door. "Then you can also see Earth." I smiled as I opened the door.

 **"Mom! I am off! See ya later!"** I called loudly.

 **"Just be careful, dear!"** My adoptive mom Anna called out of the living room.

 **"Never!"** I teased, after which I closed and locked the door and walked out before my friends towards the camp.

"Looks just like in our..." Ghazan said in a lax way, but he stopped mid sentence as a plane swooshed over them. "Was that a plane?" He asked as he pointed at the Airplane. "No way they can be so big yet go so fast."

"It's a jet. A big plane to transport passengers and cargo over the world faster than with an airship." I explained smiling as I pointed to it. "We're using them so much we've got special places for them even; airports." I explained.

"Sounds better than an Airship, if you ask me." Ghazan smirked as he looked at Femke who stopped for a red traffic sign.

"Yes, it sure is. Much faster." I smirked.

"Why don't those things have an engine?" P'li asked as she pointed to the bicycles that rode past us, which earned her some looks from people.

 _"Next time whisper questions like that. People here aren't used to visitors from other dimensions."_ I whispered to my best friend. "That was the bicycle I told you about." I smiled as I pointed to some others that were riding by on the bicycle road that was marked pink ore with white stripes next to the car road.

"Nice." both P'li and Ghazan said calmly while Ming Hua rolled her eyes.

"After we have seen Grovyle and the others I could teach you how to ride a bicycle" I offered with a smile on my face as we crossed another road before we walked through a small forest.

"Good, since I now remember that is what you promised." P'li smiled as we reached a clearing near a beautiful river were many tents in the forms of Pokémon stood, while many Pokémon walked around working.

"Femke! It's so good to see you again." A large Blastoise called as he walked to me and gave me a hug. "Megoron, you overgrown turtle, you're squeezing the life out of me." I groaned as he hugged me a little too tight.

"Oops, sorry." He grinned as he let go.

"These are my friends. Everyone, this is Megoron. I named him after my father." I grinned at him, since I had teased my starter a lot with that fact ever since I learned to understand the language of Pokémon as well as the animal language.

"Nice to meet you all." The Blastoise said waving his big paw a little, though they probably only heard him say his own name.

"These are my friends; P'li, Ming Hua and Ghazan " I told Megoron with a small smile on my face before I started look around for Grovyle, thinking it was odd he hadn't shown himself yet. When Megoron saw me look around, his face turned sad as he took something from his bag and handed it to me.

"A letter from Grovyle. He said I had to hand it to you when you came back. If you came back." He said as he handed me the scroll, then headed back to work.

"What was that all about?" Ming Hua asked as soon as Megoron was out of hearing distance.

"I introduced you guys, he handed me a letter from Grovyle, then left." I said as simply as possible as I opened the note and looked at the Unown writing on the paper.

"Is that this world's language? Looks nice." Ghazan smirked when he saw the Unown writing Grovyle had used to write his letter in, which was so him. He loved to use it even if it was only to tease me with the fact he was better at it then me.

"Not quite. It is a rare, ancient language, but many legendary Pokémon know and use it." I said as I took a moment to recall which letters were which again, then started to read out loud.

 _Dear Femke_

 _If you find this letter that means you have come back from the Avatar realm at last. But it will also mean I have left for the future. I know we promised each other our ever lasting love, but I can't help feeling you have found someone else out there and forgot all about me. So I have come to the decision this might be for the best. Maybe humans and Pokémon weren't meant to mix._

 _(They are, he is just being paranoid._

 _signed, Dusknoir)_

 _Anyway, I hope you are going to be very happy with him and that you can forgive me if I was mistaken._

 _I am sorry, this is for the best_

 _Love,_

 _Grovyle._

 _PS: Don't worry, Christie is with me. She will be perfectly happy with me and know her mother loved her._

 _'_ _Grovyle, no…'_ I thought as I looked at the note with tears in my eyes. _"Femke..."_ I heard P'li softly say behind me, after which I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up through my tears and P'li walked to me with her arms opened to hug me but before she could grab me I had ran the other way.

 **Normal POV**

"That was cold. Poor Femke." Ming Hua stated as the three of them looked after the place Femke had ran of to with a sad look in their eyes.

"Talk about a way to dump someone." Ghazan tried to lighten the mood, which earned him a faul glare from Ming Hua.

"You really don't know when to keep that mouth of you shut, do you?" Ming Hua asked in an annoyed way.

"Hey, whatever it takes to lighten the mood." Ghazan smirked. Meanwhile, P'li went after Femke, finding her near a big, beautiful waterfall, her head between her knees as she was crying.

"Hey, Femke." P'li said softly as she walked up to her best friend and placed a hand on her back.

"Go away. Leave me alone." Femke called from out of her knees.

"I understand. You're hurt. I just wanted you to know that we're all here for you if you need us." P'li said as she sat a little bit away from her in a tree and watched Femke cry her heart out. When she had calmed down she just sat there, recalling memories of Grovyle and her, not speaking until P'li came down and told her they should probably head back since it was getting late. Femke nodded and got up, not saying a word as she walked along to the encampment were Ming Hua and ghazan were hanging out. both of them looked up when P'li walked to them with Femke.

"How is it going?" Ming Hua asked as she walked to Femke, who looked up sadly and shook her head, still not saying a word as she walked by them and into one of the tents, returning with four sleeping bags, before she went to gather some firewood.

"She got it bad. She refused to speak ever since she saw that note." P'li said as she looked at her friends with a sad look in her eyes, looking as Femke started the campfire, while Megoron walked around her and looked like he was trying to cheer up the heartbroken girl.

'There has to be something that will cheer her up but what?' P'li thought as they all started to help Femke now, before they started to make marshmallows around the campfire.

"Just like in old times." P'li grinned as she blew on her marshmallow which was half burned on one side.

"Still a terrible cook." Ming Hua teased her best friend as she got her own marshmallow out of the fire, completely burned.

"Rich, coming from you. Zaheer was the only one who knew what he was doing." P'li smiled as she got a new marshmallow and thought for a moment before she looked at Femke.

"Femke, want to see a neat Combustion Technique?" P'li smiled as she held the marshmallow a few meters away from her, then used a small Combustion Blast to fry it. Femke smiled at it weakly, then tried to do the same which resulted in a huge, sticky explosion.

"Okay, next time you're doing that, warn me about it" Ming Hua said as she rubbed the goop from her face.

 _"Sorry."_ Femke muttered under her breath as she looked to the side with a sad look.

"It's alright. You couldn't know yours would blow up. Right, Ming?" Ghazan asked his best friend sternly, trying to sign to her that they had to try and cheer up Femke, not push her into the ground even more.

"Whatever." Ming Hua replied dryly to Ghazan, who sat against a log they had placed around the campfire, looking at the stars with a small smile on his face.

"You know, the stars here are pretty much the same as in our dimension. I already see three constellations I remember from prison." Ghazan brought up with a smile on his face.

 _"They are, you all have different names for them though."_ Femke silently said as she looked up.

"I re-named them like a thousand times. In jail, I had nothing else to do except for hoping Zaheer or someone else from the Red Lotus would find me someday soon." Ghazan said as he looked at Femke. "How do they call them here?" He asked, interested. At this femke looked up at the sky with a pondering look.

"Well, I remember a few. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Taurus, Gemini, Aquarius and Libra." Femke said as she pointed each of them out in the night sky above the encampment, which was so dark all the stars and constellations were very visible.

 **Femke's POV**

"Well, that is very good of you." A voice called out of the dark all of sudden, making all four of us look up.

 **"Who said that?"** I called as I got up and got the revolver out of my pocket that I had always kept since the day I had stolen it from the man that later became my stepfather, when I was still on the streets, though the thing was busted and didn't worked anymore. I love to use it very often to bluff my way out of difficult situations. **"Come out! I 'm warning you! I have a weapon and I'm not afraid to use it!"** I called, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"On quit the act, Femke. We all know that thing is worthless." Ilena called as she came out of the shadows together with her two friends and an _(to me)_ unknown man and woman, who looked at Ghazan, Ming hua and P'li with a small smile

"Hello everyone, long time no see." The woman said as she walked past the older male and to P'li, who gasped when she saw the two.

 **"Tziza! Master Xai Bau!"** P'li called out as she looked at the two, gasping.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Dun Dun Dun! And another chapter done! Next time we will see what master Xai Bau and Tziza came for! If you want find out, you gotta keep reading!

 **A/N:**

So, yeah. Grovyle the thief from the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games was her husband. But now they broke up due to a misunderstanding. Since Femke and Zaheer aren't a couple but Femke had been gone for so long he assumed she had found a human man there and decided maybe it was for the best he disappeared from her life forever, taking Grovyle, Dusknoir and his daughter Christie along to the future. I sure hope the note did sound a little like something Grovyle the thief would write (I did study his character a lot, since I played all the games) but don't hate me if it isn't like him at all. Break up scene's just aren't my specialty.

Since Femke is out and about traveling a lot I thought her stepmother would be used to Femke barging in unannounced by now, which resulted in the hilarious first scene of the chapter as I made it up. For more info about Anna, you can read my other fanfic "A Trix Story"

I thought it would be natural for Femke to stop talking for a little while as a result of a broken heart, and we sure see more of this in upcoming chapters (unless Grovyle would come back at some point and they would patch things up)

That was all for now, thanks for reading, don't forget to thank paranoidgirl for being such a awesome beta reader and to REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5: master xai bau

Chapter 5: Master Xai Bau

 **P'li's POV**

 **"Tziza! Master Xai Bau**!" I called out as she looked at the two with a gasp, shocked to see the leader and second in command of the Red Lotus here all of a sudden, after not having seen them for over a decade.

"Hello P'li, you're looking good. Especially for someone who has been stuck in hell for thirteen years." Tziza smiled as she went over to hug me.

"Thanks, all because Femke has been feeding us well lately." I smiled as I pointed at Femke, who looked at the older man with widened eyes now, probably unable to believe she was now standing face to face with the founder of the Red Lotus.

"Let me guess; Zaheer recruited her without my permission. Again." He sighed as he rubbed his face.

"Yes, though this time it wasn't like he had another choice. You weren't there to ask for permission." I said sharply, feeling slightly betrayed by the fact that the old man was alive and aware of the fact we had been in jail for thirteen years because the mission failed.

"True. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all this time. It was just that I needed some time to meditate and be with myself. Well, as far as Tziza wanted to leave me be." He smirked as he looked at the woman next to him.

"Quit your whining, old man! Without me you would have been dead several times." Tziza snapped back at him before she looked around.

"Where is your big leader anyway? Feeling too good to join you all on a beautiful night like this?" Tziza asked as she flipped her long black hair out of her face as she did so.

"No. Zaheer was caught and thrown back in jail. The three of us were presumed dead until recently." I said as I smiled at femke "Thanks to Femke we all still live. She proved herself a true member of the group, to all of us. Right, everyone?" I asked the last part with a unsure look since both Zaheer and I had decided that she was one of us right before everything went downhill, but we both forgot something. Ming Hua and Ghazan had a say in this as well.

"She sure did." Ghazan smirked, laid back as he was. Everyone who could cook better than Zaheer was a true member in his book.

"At first I had my suspicions against her." Ming Hua said as she looked at Femke with a stern look. "Because she was close with the Avatar, But yes, she proved herself as a true Red Lotus member." Ming Hua smiled as she sat down close to femke, who smiled at her brightly, thankful for her kind words, after what she had just been through.

"Well, seems they're all very fond of you, Femke. And that says something, especially if you earned Ming Hua's trust." Xai Bau said, which earned him a glare from Ming Hua. "Anyway, I want to hear what Zaheer has to say about this and then, well, maybe you could take the vows." Xai Bau said, which made me rub the back of my neck in a unsure way.

"She kind of already knows everything since she was there when it all happened." I admitted with a sheepish smile, which made Xai Bau look at me angrily

"What?" he asked, his eyes glaring daggers at me.

"She was there when it all happened. So she knows from the poisoning, the killing and everything." Ming Hua told the old man, which I was very thankful for, since I hated it when he was angry at me. It reminded me to much of that time he had threatened to make my life a living hell because I had fallen in love with Zaheer.

 **Femke's POV**

"Yeah about that. That was going way too far. I mean, I know some of the past Avatars weren't perfect but each of them did their best to keep the freedom of as many people as possible." I said, careful with my words, since I didn't wanted to anger this man even more than he already was. "Not to mention that murder, for any cause, is just plain wrong."

"The Avatar was oppressing the people. Each and every Avatar chose the side of the world leaders while they should have taken down those people." Xai Bau said firmly.

"While some of them indeed chose the side of the world leaders, there were also Avatars like Aang and Yancheng who always considered the need of every living being something I am very fond of. And let's not forget Avatar Kyoshi and how she created Kyoshi Island to get away from a World Leader." I now said, remembering Aang had always been there for all people of All Nations, not just the Airbenders, who were almost extinct back then. He even helped the freaking Fire Nation whom everyone thought of as evil back then. "The Avatar is not just one person. Each Avatar is different. And to want to kill off the entire line because of a few bad seeds is wrong…"

"But he didn't have it in him to kill Firelord Ozai, the man that had a hand in the extinction of the Air Nomads." Xai Bau countered.

"But what good would that have done? Aang was a very forgiving person. He never held grudges. Not even against the man that killed his people. Believe me if he had he hadn't saved the Fire Nation or trusted Zuko, who had hunted him for years by then, as his firebending teacher" I remarked sharply, and it was the truth. If Aang had held any grudges at all, things would have ended very differently, that was for sure.

"Still, if it hadn't been for Roku, the Fire Nation hadn't gained power to start with and the Air Nomads would have been spared." Xai Bau said now, with a smirk on his face, since that was a fact.

"Without an avatar to save us every now and then Shin the conqueror would have been in power instead." I smirked remembering the tale of Avatar Kyoshi Aang had told me shortly after we had met.

"It is just like I said, every Avatar has is ups and his downs, that's part of being a human. But every avatar did his or her best to do the right thing and save mankind. Ending the avatar cycle and creating chaos wouldn't have solved anything. It had just set another despot on the way of conquering the world." I smirked as I said the last part, since I had a feeling that was what was happening right now and I was proven right, since Xai Bau now looked down in a guilty way.

"After the fall of the Earth Queen some Dictator named Kuvira indeed took over the Earth Kingdom." he admitted now as he looked down.

"See, the girl is right, and it's about time someone slapped some sense into you." The woman named Tziza now said as she gave the Red Lotus founder a firm smack on the back of his head.

 _"Says the one that followed the teachings of the Red Lotus from day one_ " Xai Bau mumbled in reply, which made P'li giggle behind her hand a little and Tziza to look at him in an annoyed.

"Anyway, Zaheer is in jail while he should be here with you all. I say we bust him out." Xai Bau said as he balled a fist while he looked at the Red Lotus members with a firm look.

"One problem. We kind of apologized and said we would stay on the right path." P'li said as she looked at Femke with a small smile, who nodded in reply.

"Then Tziza and I will make sure he will come back to the group. Any ideas how and where he is being kept?" Xai Bau asked.

"Not a clue, Sir. We only have been in Republic City for a short moment." I replied as i looked down. "That said, I couldn't tell Zaheer you were alive under the nose of the White Lotus." I now admitted, suddenly realizing Zaheer _(wherever he was)_ didn't knew his friends were all okay and now I came to think of it, I hadn't mentioned our goodbye to P'li either. Nor what happened back then.

"You lied to him to protect us?" P'li questioned as she looked at me with smirk on her face.

"Yes. I hope he won't be too mad about it when he finds out." I said as I looked down, the memory of Zaheer throwing Aiwei in the fog of lost souls still fresh in my mind.

"He won't. Believe me. And if he is, well let's say you're even then, since he lied to you as well." P'li said as she wrapped her arms around me with a smile on her face.

"I will try and see if Zaheer is in the Spirit World to tell him and maybe he has a clue as to where he is being kept."

I said as i thought about this for a moment. He might have been drugged when they got him from the cart to his cell, but there was a big chance they would just show him, since there was no way he would ever escape anyway. Knowing I wouldn't be foolish enough to try it on my own and thinking the others were all dead.

"Good idea." P'li smiled, while Xai Bau looked at me.

"You can meditate into the spirit world?" He asked, sounding a little incredulous at this for some reason.

"Yes, Zaheer taught me how after he learned me how to Airbend." I replied as I sat in the lotus position and closed my eyes, concentrating on nothing, like Zaheer had taught me. But as i did so, Grovyle's note appeared before my eyes, the letter started to read itself, stinging in my heart as i did so.

 _ **"No..."**_ I gasped as I shook my head in an effort to shake the memory away from me, but it only made the letter close in on me, that was until i suddenly felt a hand softly grab mine.

"Remember; the past is in the past. Focus on us. We're here for you. Always." P'li's voice said from afar, slowly changing in Zaheer's familiar voice calling my name, and when I opened my eyes I saw why, I was in the Spirit World and Zaheer was standing before me. He had hair now do, long grey hair all around his face as well as a long black and grey beard.

 _"Femke."_ He said softly and as he did so I felt tears run over my cheeks since I was so happy to see him again after such a long time. In those three years I haven't thought about meeting him too much, because Ikki, Jinora and the others had tried to keep my mind away from her time with the Red Lotus as much as possible, and mostly the air acolytes kept a close eye on me if the Airbender kids weren't around so I wouldn't be able to meditate into the Spirit World. But as Zaheer closed in to hug me, I suddenly remembered he had almost tricked me into killing the Avatar and ending the Avatar Cycle, which made me smack him in his face. Hard.

"What was that for?" Zaheer asked, sounding rather offended by the fact that I slapped him.

"How about for lying to me. _ **Again**_." Femke snapped as she looked at Zaheer firmly, who looked at her with a dumbstruck look, not getting what I was talking about now.

 _ **"I know zaheer. I know what you did to Korra. Poisoning her to end the Avatar Cycle. Have you gone mad?"**_ I screamed at him as the sky above us turned darker.

"Femke, calm down. I know you're probably feeling upset right now, but know that we're in the Spirit World, our emotions affect our surroundings."Zaheer said as he held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"I know but still it wasn't good of you to keep that info from me. I mean, yeah, Korra hurted my feelings several times but that doesn't means I want to kill her." Femke said as she looked angrily at Zaheer. "I still honor my friendship with Aang every day and night. As well as his teachings about not killing people." I said as tears formed in the corner of my eyes.

"I will never forget them, the moments we shared, the tears shed. Even the arguments we had from time to time. They will always live on in my heart" I said as I calmed down now. At this Zaheer turned to look at me with a bleak look in his eyes, like he couldn't believe what I had just said.

"Just as I will never forget you. Every moment we share lives in my heart but what you did was wrong. The world needs the Avatar." I said calmer now.

"You still support the Avatar Cycle? Even after all Korra did to you?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me with dark eyes.

"Yes. She never did anything that made her deserving of Death." I said firmly, for the first time sounding confident about myself. "Every Avatar had its ups and his downs, that's part of being a human but every Avatar did his or her best to do the right thing and bring balance. Ending the Avatar Cycle and creating chaos wouldn't have solved anything. It would have just set another despot on the way of conquering the world." I told him, repeating the same thing I had told Xai Bau before.

"True I heard from Korra that Kuvira is being one nasty piece of work. I helped her to meditate into the Spirit World again." Zaheer told me now with a small smile on his face.

"That is very good and all."I said still mad at him for not telling me he had wanted to end the Avatar Cycle and bring total chaos to the world. "But that doesn't make up for the fact you lied to me for the second time in a row and tried to kill someone **. Again**." I snapped before I looked to the side in a hurt way.

"I know. I should have been honest with you from the beginning about both things." Zaheer said as he looked at me with sad eyes. "Could you bring it in your heart to forgive me?" He asked me as he cupped up my head and looked me straight in the eyes.

"Maybe. In time. It's not as if I hadn't lied." I said as I rubbed over the back of my neck with a sheepish smile now.

"You did, but I know that story." Zaheer grinned, obviously relieved I wasn't going to stay mad at him for the rest of my life. Though I wasn't going to forgive him easily this time. I had almost done something despicable. I had almost ruined the life of my best friend's reincarnation. That was something I wasn't going to forgive easily. Myself or Zaheer.

"Well, there is something else I lied about as well." I said as I looked at Zaheer sadly now. "You remember I told you P'li died in my arms?" I asked as I looked at my lap.

"Yes." Zaheer said, also sounding sad.

 _'He must feel so guilty. Thank goodness it was only a ly for the sake of P'li.'_ I thought as I placed a hand on his arm.

"That was a lie. I lied because the White Lotus was close by." I said, which made Zaheer look up at me shocked.

"You lied about that?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me shocked, yet not angry.

"I had no choice, Zaheer. After the fight she lost her memories. If the White Lotus had known she lived they had thrown her in jail without her knowing why." I said firmly. "How fair had it been for her to be thrown in jail while she thought she was innocent?" I asked him firmly, ready for anything now.

"Well it wouldn't have been." Zaheer said as he looked down. "But I wish you had told me before. Do you know how guilty I have felt about her death and those of Ming and Ghazan?" Zaheer said as he looked down sadly, which made me take his hands in mine and look at him with a sad look. "Now you know what I felt. Lies only cause hurt. Let's promise each other. Mo more secrets. No more lying. No more killing. We're Voortrix. We should be able to depend on each other. Always." I said as I placed a hand on my heart, on the place Feria's medallion was in the real world.

"Are Ming and Ghazan okay as well?" Zaheer asked as he got up and took my hand.

"Yes though I only found that out after you were gone." I replied with a smile on my face, which made Zaheer's eyes gleam with a hope I haven't seen since the moment we parted ways before we went to Laghima's Peak.

 **Korra's POV**

After I had saved Jinora and the others, I figured I could maybe go to Xai Bau's grove to thank Zaheer for helping me. Even if it had only been because we shared a common enemy, he did help me through a trauma that could have prevented me from saving Jinora and the others. So I should at least show him some gratitude. Though I still hadn't forgiven him for what he had done to me. I had just accepted it. But when I came there, I was surprised to see Femke standing there, looking at Zaheer with a small smile on her face.

 _'What is she doing here? I thought she turned the Red Lotus down.'_ I thought as I sneaked closer to hear what they were talking about. And as I did so, I just happened to see Femke smack zaheer firmly in his face.

"What was that for? I just wanted to hug you." I heard Zaheer said, sounding rather offended by the fact that Femke had smacked him for just wanting to hug her. Something I hadn't quite expected from Femke, since she had looked like she was very fond of Zaheer last time I saw her to the point she forgave him for murder.

"How about for lying to me? **Again."** I heard Femke snap at the airbender as she looked at Zaheer firmly, who looked at her with a dumbstruck look, not getting what she was talking about now. Neither did I.

 _'What did she mean with 'again'? Though I'm not surprised. Zaheer lies all the time.'_ I wondered as I looked at Femke who still looked at Zaheer rather angry.

 **"I know, Zaheer. I know what you did to Korra. Poisoning her to end the Avatar Cycle. Have you gone mad?"** Femke screamed at him as the sky above us turned darker.

"Femke. calm down. I know you're probably feeling upset right now, but know that we're in the Spirit World, our emotions affect our surroundings." Zaheer said as he held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"I know, but still it wasn't good of you to keep that info from me. I mean, yeah, Korra hurt my feelings several times, but that doesn't means I want to kill her." Femke said as she looked angrily at Zaheer, which made me look up surprised, since I hadn't expected Femke to be mad about this, since she hated me and seemed quite alright with those she hated dying.

"I still honor my friendship with Aang every day and night. As well as his teachings about not killing people." Femke said as I saw tears blink in the corners of her eyes. "I will never forget them, the moments we shared, the tears shed. Even the arguments we had from time to time. They will always live on in my heart." Femke said as Zaheer's look turned bleak.

 _'So that's why. She still cares about Aang.'_ I thought before I shook my head.

 _'if she does why did she join them in the first place. She doesn't make sense.'_ I thought as I walked to the back of a tree and looked at Femke and Zaheer from there, since I had the best outlook on them now.

"Just as I will never forget you guys. Every moment we share lives in my heart but what you did was wrong. The world needs the Avatar." Femke said, calmer now. "You still support the Avatar Cycle? Even after all Korra did to you?" Zaheer asked as he looked at Femke with a dark look in his eyes. This was it. She was going to justify everything because I was _'mean'_ for not trusting people that wanted to murder me.

"Yes." I heard Femke's voice say firmly, for the first time since we had met sounding confident about herself. "Every Avatar had their ups and their downs, that's part of being a human. But every Avatar did his or her best to do the right thing and bring balance. Ending the Avatar Cycle and creating chaos hadn't solved anything. It had just set another despot on the way of conquering the world." Femke said firmly, which made me gasp, which made that I had to teleport to another place fast, because I saw Femke look my way with a firm look on her face.

 _'Unbelievable. She just defended me.'_ I thought as I paced up and down the meadow Zaheer had led me to after I had overcome the trauma he had caused.

 _'She could be bluffing. Or somehow making herself believe she did nothing wrong and I'm the bad guy for not trusting people that tried to brainwash and kill me...'_ I thought as I heard someone appear behind me, and after that a sudden hand on my shoulder.

"Korra. I know you have seen and heard what Zaheer and I discussed." Femke said as she walked around me so she could look me in the eyes as she spoke.

"Yeah, so?" I said as I looked to the side, not wanting to look her in the eye after everything she had done to me.

"I know you're mad at me as well. But believe me if I say I had no idea how far Zaheer was taking things and if I had I would have stopped him even if I had to end him." Femke said firmly as she took my hands in her and looked at me with a stern look as I sign she meant it.

"I know we will never be the best of friends. Not like how things used to be." Femke looked to the side as she said this, and I could see a pang off emotion in her eyes. "But I would have never and I mean never ever ended the Avatar Cycle and kill you. That would have been wrong and stupid. And I am not a stupid girl. Though I sometimes might have acted like one." She said as she smiled a little to herself, and I couldn't help but smiling a little as well, since she was right. She had been very stupid to follow them. To defend people like Amon and Tarrlok, family or not.

"I know you most likely won't be able to forgive me. But I hope that one day when the scars I put on your soul healed, you will be able to forgive me and that we might at least be able to look each other in the eye without it turning into a fight." Femke said with a smile on her face, before she looked around to one of the leaves after which I saw a grey and brown spot moved.

"You're still on their side, aren't you?" I dared to ask, at which Femke looked up shocked.

"Well, no. I don't agree with their goals. Not anymore. But they're my friends and also misguided people. They need my guidance. You understand?" Femke asked as she looked at the spot again, after which Zaheer now looked our way in shock.

"I think so. Just don't do anything stupid again, okay? Maybe in time your wish will come true." I smirked at her as I held out a hand to her, which she grasped with a smile on her face.

"I can't promise anything but I will try my best." Femke smiled after which she let go of my hand and walked towards Zaheer, who stayed behind the leaf for some odd reason.

"Also, good luck beating Kuvira. I heard she's quite the troublemaker." Femke smirked as she raised her thumb up at me.

"Thanks. I'm sure I will be able to handle her some way. Thanks to your _'friend'._ I guess." Korra said as she looked at Zaheer who kept himself away still.

"Why is Zaheer keeping himself away anyway?" I dared to ask now as I looked from Femke to Zaheer with a strange look, since it was almost looking like Zaheer was really ashamed of what he did now. Though it was looking very hard to believe.

"I just gave him a piece of my mind. I think it finally got through to his thick skull." Femke said as she looked at the leaf, after which Zaheer looked up at her with widen eyes, before he shook his head at her firmly.

"Just giving you some privacy to talk. That's all." He replied as he looked away.

"I can see that you're lying you know. And you just promised you wouldn't do that anymore." Femke said as she looked at him firmly.

 **"Oh,** _ **NOW**_ **you know how to read faces."** Zaheer snapped as he turned away from her in an angry way, huffing at her for suddenly being able to read people, while I had seen Femke read faces before.

"Now that I know what I have to look for yeah. The last two times I didn't knew what I had to look at, now I know." Femke said as she turned away from him as well.

"What do you need to look at then?" I asked interested, since I didn't know much about it.

"You got to look at the facial details, they change slightly when you're lying. It's a bit like using seismic sense. You look at a face and notice the slightest changes in the face and the eyes when someone lies. Zaheer always starts blinking very fast if he lies." Femke explained with a smirk on her face.

"I don't." Zaheer said, after which he blinked five times in a row in a very fast rate.

"You do." I smirked at the older Airbender, who now huffed and walked off.

"I best go after him. I will speak to you another time. Good luck, Avatar." Femke smiled as she bowed in the traditional way, for the first time she really showed me some respect, and it fell odd. Not satisfying like I had always thought it would be. Now it fell like I lost someone dear to me.

 **Femke's POV**

After I finally patched things up with Korra I went to find Zaheer, since there was one more thing I had to discuss with him. About the thing that had happened when we said goodbye to each other. Since I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep that a secret for a long time, we only had to come near Bolin or someone else who was there at the dock that day once and then the disaster would be complete since I had never seen P'li angry before.

"There you are, I was already wondering where you headed off to." I smirked when I saw Zaheer sit under the big rain tree in the lotus position, probably meditating.

"I figured you and your new best friend could use some privacy." Zaheer smirked in a teasing way as I sat down next to him in the lotus position as well. "Oh shut up!" I smiled as I gave Zaheer a playful push "For that I still care too much about you and the others." I smiled as I looked at the beautiful Spirit World sky.

"Speaking of which; did you ever see P'li angry?" I asked tactfully, not wanting to anger Zaheer by straight out telling him I wanted him to tell the truth about what happened, since he had been the one that kissed me.

"No, anyone who manages to anger her is in deep peril. Did you ever see her angry?" Zaheer asked me now, which made I instantly shake my head.

"No, though I am afraid we might see her angry when she finds out about that kiss." I said as I looked at my lap with a sad look.

"You think so?" Zaheer asked now as he looked at me with a shocked look. "Well, then it's better if we don't tell." he said calmly, which made me look at him shocked and angry, unable to believe he wanted to keep something from his loved one. And lie. **Again.**

"Zaheer, other people saw the kiss as well. If they tell her it will send the wrong message. I didn't kiss back, Zaheer. I am…" I started, but stopped when I wanted to say 'I _am married'_ since technically speaking I wasn't married anymore. Grovyle decided it was for the best we each went our own way.

"Don't tell me you didn't like it... you blushed." Zaheer said firmly as he put a finger under my nose.

"I wanted to say; _I was married at that point._ And yeah, I didn't like it." I firmly said, flicking his finger away with my hand.

"She has the right to hear from your mouth what happened Zaheer." I said as I placed a hand on his knee and looked at him sadly. "Letting go your earthly tethers doesn't mean you can hurt her feelings all of a sudden." I said as I placed a hand on his and looked him straight in the eye, which made something flutter in my chest again.

"You're right. But it isn't going to be easy…." He sighed as he looked at me with a small smile "Since when did you get so wise?" He asked me with a chuckle as he gave me a teasing push.

"It was always inside me. I just needed the right motivation to bring it out, I guess." I smiled as I got up and looked at the now slightly darker sky, which signed to me a lot of time had passed since I had gotten into the Spirit World. The others would be wondering what was keeping me by now.

"I'm afraid it's dinner time. I have to go back. Not that I am jumping to eat rice… **again** " Zaheer joked as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Neither would I but it does explain why you're even skinnier than the last time I saw you." I joked as I gave him a playful poke. "Don't worry. Xai Bau is with us and he will try and get you out of there." I said as I looked at him sternly.

"Why don't you and the others come?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Because we all came to our senses, apologized and promised never to do that kind of stuff again." I said as I rubbed the back of my neck with a sheepish smile.

"You dropped out? All of you?" Zaheer asked looked up surprised.

"P'li and I did. When we told Ming Hua and Ghazan after they came out of their coma they seemed to agree." I said as I looked at Zaheer with a sad smile.

"I am sorry Zaheer, but the mission failed. Your friends almost got killed and you're responsible for the suffering of many people. Maybe it is a sign from above that this is for the best." I said carefully as I looked at him almost begging, knowing that if he would disagree and drag us into another try I might not be able to save P'li, Ming Hua and Ghazan again. Not to mention the innocent lives at stake.

"You really think we would be that much doomed if we would try again?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me sadly.

"I am sure of it. Since I won't be around to save you again." I said firmly, wanting to make clear to him that, if wanted to try and kill the Avatar and other people again, he would have to do that without me. When I said this zaheer chuckled and looked at the sky.

"Well, since there is no way I would be able to convince you that is settled then. Though I am not going to live in a house and live a boring life like that now. If I wanted that life I had stayed home." Zaheer said firmly.

"No need to be worried about that. We still have a bad guy to beat up remember Lord Darkar?" I smirked

"The evil that wanted to destroy all worlds." Zaheer said as he looked at me with a smile on his face.

"Indeed. So we need to get you out of jail and when that works out, you will tell her." I said as I looked at Zaheer sternly.

"I will." Zaheer said as he looked at me. "I promise." He stated holding up both hands to show me he didn't had any fingers crossed when he saw I gave him a very skeptical look, since he had lied to me multiple times.

"Okay then. I believe you. I really got to go now. The others will be wondering what's keeping me. Remember your promise." I said before I slowly disappeared from the spirit world. Back to my own body and the mission to free Zaheer.

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And with that I end the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!

 **A/N:**

Finally! Femke and Korra patched things up! I was so happy when the scene popped into my mind like that! Though this doesn't immediately mean she forgave Femke's mistakes and that things will immediately change around them. Just keep in mind the start is made.

The argument between Femke and Xai Bau really showed a lot of Femke's character development. she isn't reckless and immature anymore, instead she thinks before acting and seems to be a lot wiser, which will sure come in handy from now on.

I thought it would be possible that her friends had never seen P'li angry before because she always keeps that kind of stuff to herself, which makes Zaheer fear the day he will manage to anger P'li. Which is bound to happen if someone else then Femke or Zaheer tells her about the kiss.

Femke hasn't quite forgiven Zaheer for not telling her about the poisoning and ending the Avatar Cycle by killing Korra. so keep in mind they still need to patch that up.

That was all for now! thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as beta reader

 **Please review everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6: the breakout

Chapter 6: The Breakout

 **Normal POV**

"okay, so the plan is clear?" Xai Bau asked a few days later as he and Tziza had a bag slung over their shoulders, ready to go.

"Yes. You all have been here for several days, we talked about the past some and after asking if we knew anything about Zaheer you left." Femke said as she and the remaining Red Lotus members stood in the doorway to Femke's home.

"And we told you we haven't seen Zaheer since the day he was arrested and that we have no idea where he is being kept." Ghazan said in a very relaxed way as he held one arm around Ming Hua, who looked up at him, annoyed.

"Good. Keep this in mind and we will handle the rest. Soon you will have your friend back where he belongs." Xai Bau said as he nodded to Ilena who opened a portal for them that would bring them back to the Avatar World.

"Good luck, Sir." Femke smiled as she and P'li smiled at Tziza as well, who gave them a small thumbs up as a sign they would be okay before they headed into the portal and disappeared from sight.

"You're sure they will be okay?" Femke asked her best friend as she gave her a worried look.

"I am. Believe me, Xai Bau and Zaheer look so much alike. Even I had mistaken them for relatives if i didn't know any better." P'li smiled as she gave her best friend a hug.

"Don't worry. Soon Zaheer will be back with us where he belongs." Femke smiled as the others joined in the groups hug.

 _'Let's hope Zaheer remembers his promise.'_ Femke thought as she looked at the deep blue sky above her with a sad look. knowing P'li would hate her if Zaheer would refuse to tell the truth about the kiss.

 **Xai Bau's POV**

"So, if i understand you correctly; your son ran away from home because he didn't want to take part in an arranged marriage." A strict looking man asked as he sat hunched over the papers the Wood Villages had copied for us out of the real Ba Sing Se archive, which had been looted during the raids on the Royal Palace and were now in the hands of the Wood Villages who had taken them from those looters, who had wanted to burn them.

"Our little boy was always a rebel but we never intended to hurt him like that." Tziza fake sobbed, gently patting with a handkerchief in the corners of her eyes.

"We have looked all over the world for him. Now we finally found him we would want him home.. married of to a fine young woman as we intended him to be." I said strictly as I placed a big bag of money on the table, at which the man looked with a skeptical look.

"And what about his newly achieved airbending skills?" the man asked on, seemingly not trusting us with Zaheer unless we gave them every detail of the plan. "Those powers of him are very dangerous even we had to put him in high lockup while he was drugged to make sure he wouldn't escape." The man said firmly as he looked from Tziza to me.

"You can Chi Block him for the time being and once we're home we have a special potion to keep the bending away."

Tziza said as she handed them a piece of paper that contained the recipe of a potion that she made up. It was pure nonsense, but she hoped they might fall for it.

"Special Potion. Right… Very nice and all, but the fact stays he can throw something like that in a can, pretend to have taken it and escape during night. And that's just me saying the first thing that comes up in my head." The man said after he placed the recipe down.

"Well, do you know how much security is around our house? All of them are expert chi blockers. They won't let him escape" I tried to assure the man as I gave him a stern look.

"You must have thought of that right before he escaped last time as well. It isn't going to happen. He is too danger-..." The man started his line, but stopped as Ilena grabbed his neck firmly to knock him out while Dizanna and Aelvia, who posed as bodyguards, did the same to the other guards.

" **So much for that. Plan B!"** Ilena called as we grabbed the keys he carried and ran through the door into the small narrow hallway.

"Hey, what are are you…?" one of them managed to ask, but was soon knocked out by Dizanna's Earthbending

"Can you metal bend as well?" I asked her as she looked up at me shocked before she nodded.

"As long as his chains aren't made of platinum, I can bend them." She replied as we forced our way through the hallways and to a big door that looked like an elevator.

 **"Send the elevator down! Don't let these criminals through."** The man that seemed to be in charge called, after which one of them pushed a button to do as told.

 **"We have to get the elevator up again!"** Ilena called as she used her water whip to take out several of the men.

 **"No time! The backup arrived!"** Dizanna called back as she pointed to a spot behind her were indeed more men came running.

 **"Give up, you're surrounded!"** One of them bellowed as they all pointed their fists at the five of us. ready to strike.

 _"How close are we to Zaheer, Ilena?"_ I heard Dizanna whisper in her best friend's ear as we all moved our arms up.

 _"Close. I can feel his energy bane right under us."_ Ilena whispered back as she stepped backwards as the man came to us carrying chains.

" _Can you two distract them? I have a plan."_ Dizanna whispered to me, which made me look up at her, surprised since i was normally the one that came up with the plans but against this many men we didn't stand a chance. Despite that it seemed these three women had a plan to get to Zaheer anyway.

 _"I can try, but it won't be for long_." I replied as I got a dagger out of my pocket which Ilena took from my hand quietly and gave me a smirk as she handed me a magically made duplicate.

 _"Let's go get Zaheer_." She whispered and smirked before she disappeared from sight.

 **Normal POV**

"Where did she go?" A guard asked as he looked at the place the young woman had disappeared from.

"Like we would tell you even if we knew." Xai Bau said. This was a lie. He knew the blonde had a plan, though he had no idea what that was. He hoped they would somehow be able to free Zaheer, since they were so close.

"Put your arms were we can see them." The man now said firmly.

"Sir, what about the blonde?" One of the men asked.

"Just keep calm and restrain the prisoners." He answered and after that he nodded to one of his men who walked towards them with chains, but just as he wanted to chain them down there was a yelp behind him and when he looked up Ilena was holding the knife on the throat of the leader of the group.

 **"Get the elevator up. Let us though or I will kill him**." Ilena called, Though Dizanna and Selvia noticed she was faking. Their friend was a lot and had been through a lot but she would never kill. Tziza looked at them with an annoyed look, since she couldn't believe what she was hearing. These had been friends with that fairy girl that had been so against murder and yet they threatened the life of a innocent man to free a man they didn't even know.

 **"Don't do it! He is too dangerous to be let out**!" The man called, he was very scared at the moment, but he knew the world would be in grave danger if Zaheer were to escape. He would rather die than let that madman escape.

"But Sir, you might be killed." One of them objected. "That doesn't matter. Zaheer can't..." The man started but stopped as the point of the knife pricked in his skin while Ilena forced him to walk towards the elevator, forcing his hand on the button to call it up again, figuring the lift would most likely only react on someone from the White Lotus. She let the other four members of the group in first, Ilena holding the man firmly in her grasp.

"That was scary." Tziza sighted as she used the handkerchief to wipe some of the sweat from her forehead.

"We're not out yet, stay focused." Xai Bau told his second in command as the lift arrived at their destination.

 **"We have your superior, open the hatch! Let us through!"** Ilena called as soon as the elevator had opened. The man in her grasp got a punch in his stomach from Dizanna as soon as he opened his mouth to object.

"Do as we say or we'll kill him!" Xai Bau threatened as he got the duplicate knife from his pocket and pointed it at the throat of the man, who now made a gruff noise because he saw a glint in this man's eyes he knew a bit too well. This man would kill him without hesitation if needed.

 **"Open the hatch!"** The man now called, feeling threatened. "But Sir…" One of the men said, hesitating because he knew how dangerous Zaheer was.

"Do as I say." the man called now as the point of the knife made some blood ooze out of his neck on the place Xai Bau had his knife to add threat.

"Yes sir…" They obliged eventually, seeing there was indeed a comerade in need.

"One wrong move and he will be done for." Ilena threatened as they walked towards the opened hatch, Ilena held the man in her grip with Tziza standing before him in case he wanted to try something in the hatch, while Dizanna, Selvia and Xai Bau ran towards the middle of the room were Zaheer looked up shocked at the sight of the small group

.

"Master? What on earth?" Zaheer questioned as Dizanna ripped the metal chains from his wrists, ankles and waist.

"We're friends of Femke." Dizanna said. Xai Bau nodded to confirm this as Dizanna opened one of the earth walls to make a escape route that didn't involve fighting those men or bluffing with the life of an innocent person. " **You can dump the guy, Ilena! We got an emergency escape!"** Dizanna called to Ilena and Tziza as Zaheer, Xai Bau, Selvia and she walked into the opening first. Ilena nodded and knocked the man out, before she took Tziza's arm and ran towards the opening as well, after which Dizanna closed the wall to cover their escape way, leaving just an open room with some broken heavy chains as a sign someone had been imprisoned here before.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"Master? What on Earth?" I asked with a shocked expression on my face as I saw my master walk into the prison cell I was in aong with three unknown girls, who immediately ripped my chains off

"We're friends of Femke." A brunette said. Master Xai Bau nodded in reply to confirm that they were indeed friends with Femke, as the brunette walked to the wall and opened a large gap in it so we had a escape route that didn't involve fighting. Even do Femke had warned me my master and some of her friends were coming to free me, I hadn't imagined they would be able to exactly reach me, since the guards had often mentioned how deep I was buried underground and how high the security was. There would be dozens of guards waiting for us outside that wall now and even though I was up to some fights, I knew the six of us would never be able to fight of all those guards on our own.

 _Besides, I might look okay but jail did a number on me, mentally speaking._

 **"You can dump the guy now, Ilena! We got an emergency escape**!" I heard the brunette call to a blonde woman that was standing in the hatch together with Tziza, our second in command. The blonde she had called Ilena nodded and used a very well known Chi technique to knock the man out, before she and Tziza ran into the small narrow hallway as well, before she closed it. As she closed it I looked at the middle of the room one last time, praying this would be the last time I would see it.

 **"We have to hurry! I don't know how long it will take for them to let everyone know we busted Zaheer out."** A voice called out from behind me.

"Can't you teleport?" The voice of my master replied from next to me, as I felt his strong arms forced me to lean on him form some odd reason, like he was fearing I would fall and hurt myself if he wouldn't help me walk in the dark.

 _'Some things will never change. He is still very protective of me.'_ I thought with a smile on my face as Tziza opened a small fire in the palm of her hand to light the way.

"You look horrible." She commented as soon as her fire was stable enough to see by.

"If that was all you lighted the fire for, I wish you turned the light of again." I quipped with a wry smile on my face. Though I was glad to see her and my master again.

"No, I also did it to make bending out a way for us would be easier for Dizanna."

Tziza said with a smile on her face as she gave my master a stern glare.

"Let the boy walk on his own. He isn't your age yet." Tziza snapped at Xai Bau, who looked at her with an annoyed glance.

"Just looking out for him. You have seen how insufferable that jail was." He mumbled as he let go of me.

"I can't understand how you can stand that smell around him. How long has it been since you last took a shower?" Tziza asked as she waved her hands before her face to sign I was probably smelling awful.

"Three years ago. This is nothing. You should have smelled me after thirteen years of prison." I half joked, since it had been the truth. I had smelled awful after those thirteen years of jail.

"Thank goodness i didn't, then." Tziza commented with a smile on her face after which everything went silent for a moment as I watched the woman Tziza had called Dizanna bend out a way for us.

"So how did you manage to get in? The security was top notch." I asked after having spent a long time walking in silence. which made Xai Bau look up at me

"Thanks to that new girl. Femke. She really wanted to get you out so that the Red Lotus could be together again. Including her." Xai Bau commented. Though I felt the hidden hint behind it. He was mad I recruited yet another someone without asking him first.

"I know, I know. I should have asked you first if I could make her join." I replied as I looked at him sternly. at which he reacted with a surprised look. "You weren't there to ask." I said, hinting I hadn't forgotten he should have been there when we needed him.

"I had some things to work out on my own and I think you're old and wise enough to make that decision on your own." Xai Bau replied as he smiled at me, then at Tziza who nodded in return. "You did great recruiting her. From what little I saw of her, she is amazing." He said.

"Master." I smirked as I tried to pull him away from me a little. "I'm still with P'li." i said defensively, though this was a bit of a lie. I thought she was dead and let go off her.

"I thought I heard you let all your earthly tethers go to learn flight." Xai Bau said as he looked at me from top to bottom, and when I looked down I saw why. I had made myself fly up a little so I towered out above him.

"I did but..." I sighed as I landed and looked at my master sadly. "That doesn't mean I forgot about her. _'Letting go your earthly tethers'_ doesn't mean _letting go of all feelings you have."_ I said sternly, which was the sad truth. even if you let a your earthly tethers go. Even if you accept things happened and you can't change anything about it anymore, the things I had done. Large things like P'li, Ming Hua and Ghazan's deaths to small things like Femke's injured arm kept haunting me in my worst nightmares until Femke came to tell me they didn't die after all.

"True. Despite accepting, the mind can stay a powerful enemy." Xai Bau said as the girls made the small tunnel they were walking in turn to the right sharply.

"Which was why I was glad Femke came to tell me they didn't die after all. I had a lot more peace after that." I admitted with a small smile on my face, after which my master looked at me, surprised.

"You seem to be very fond of Femke" Xai Bau remarked as he looked at me sternly. "Do you have feelings for her?" He asked straight out now.

"What? No. I can't... I'm with P'li." I stammered which made my master look at me skeptically.

"You just said you let go your earthly tethers. She was your last earthly tether. Your flight proves you let her go." Xai Bau said. "But earthly tethers can come back and ten times stronger than before in the form of new love," Xai Bau said, which was something I had to think about for a moment. I indeed let go of P'li at Laghima's Peak but that had been because I thought she was dead, not because I wanted to. If I had the choice I would have never let go.

"You and Femke seemed to have shared a lot already. When you thought P'li died you let her go but with that you found a friend and maybe more in Femke." Xai Bau said now. "She lost the love of her life recently or so I heard. So she is free to make her own fate as well now and since you two share a history together it might be she already started to feel for you as well. Though she might still be in denial." Xai Bau continued at which I nodded since I indeed had heard from Femke that Grovyle left her which I could imagine had been very rough for her. But the idea that she might have started to build up feelings for me was strange. Though she did seemed to be tenser around me last time we were in the Spirit World together.

"Well, I did feel she was tense around me last time we were together." I stammered. "Though that might as well have been because I kissed her when we said our goodbyes." I admitted as I gave my master a sheepish smile, who now looked up at me, shocked.

"Excuse me? You kissed her? Why?" He asked, shocked that I kissed Femke while I just told him I still felt strongly for P'li.

"I don't know. Desperation?" I said as I looked down, thinking about that kiss on the dock and the feelings I had at that moment

.

"Zaheer, desperation isn't a good motivator. You should be honest with Femke." He said sternly. "And with yourself. Since I don't believe it was desperation." My master replied before he walked next to Tziza, leaving me alone to think as the end of the tunnel came in sight.

 **Normal POV**

"Okay, stand clear. As soon as we're out we run into the forest. From there we can teleport." Ilena told the group when Dizanna said she fell the outside world at the other end of the wall.

"You think there will be guards?" Xai Bau asked as he looked at the wall which the outside world was behind.

"I feel nothing. Though they could be in the trees to ambush us." Selvia said, who had unlocked earth as her second element. even do it was weaker than her first element _(air)_ it was already getting better.

"No. That sharp turn we made was to fool them. They're all waiting for us at the other side of the mountain." Ilena grinned as she placed a hand on the wall then double checked by stomping her foot on the ground. "We're all clear." She said, nodding as she opened a small gap in the wall, so they could all pass out, after which Ilena closed the gap again. After that the group of six sneaked as fast and as silently as they could towards the edge of the forest where they broke into a run.

"By the time they notice we fled, we're safe and sound back on Earth." Dizanna smiled after a while of running, as they stopped for a moment to catch their breath.

"You know, this had gone a lot faster if we had a Saito Mobile, like I told you to get." Tziza commented as she looked at Xai Bau accusingly

.

"There's nothing wrong with the old sneak and run technique." Xai Bau defended as he looked around. They were at the side of a lake in the middle of a forest. It was really peaceful, no sign of the White Lotus yet. They could take a small break here.

"Problem is we could have been killed this time." Tziza snapped as she crossed her arms.

"Tziza, they would have heard a Sato Mobile leave. We would have had a dozen White Lotus guards after us if we had taken one." Xai Bau replied.

"He's right. The only way they will find us now is if you keep talking." Zaheer half joked as he walked to the water and took a bit of it in both hands.

"You're probably right." Tziza smiled as she followed the young airbender's example and drank some of the cool water.

"After we're rested up we will be able to teleport to Femke's home on Earth." Selvia said, which made Xai Bau and Tziza look up at her skeptically.

"Why couldn't we just teleport to and away from Zaheer's cell?" Xai Bau asked as he bent down to drink some water as well.

"We need to know exact locations of where we're going." Selvia explained as Zaheer took his jail clothes of and jumped into the water. "So we had to tunnel out before we could teleport back, which should work by now." She said as she looked at the water, then to the other side, seeing Zaheer was swimming around. 

"I think Zaheer hasn't seen water in a long time." Ilena said as she got two wooden trunks that were tied together in the middle from behind a tree and grabbed in it, before she throw a bar of soap backwards towards zaheer, who caught it, before heading under.

 **"Thanks!"** Zaheer called, smiling as he got above the water again, then swam behind a rock to get himself washed up.

"While he washes up, would you mind telling me how you made that bag, it looks interesting." Tziza commented with a smile on her face as she looked at the bags, impressed. "They're bags made of hollow tree trunks, all Wood Villagers have them" Ilena said as she rustled through it some more, and got all kinds of things out.

"What are these for?" Tziza asked curiously as she picked up a small wooden box and shook it.

"That's my medicine box, everyone from the Wood Villages has one in their bag, in case of emergencies." Ilena explained as she placed two rocks on the floor as well as a small narrow rock with a hole in the back.

"Rocks?" Tziza questioned as she looked at the brunette curiously again.

"We make rocks into things we need, like this one." Inne said as she held up the rock with the hole in the bottom.

"We use it to do our sewing work, and the other two..." She pointed to the small rocks that were formed out in a circle. "We use to make fire, we always carry them around in case we don't have a firebender nearby to make fire." She joked as she finally found what she had been looking for and hung a towel over a nearby branch were Zaheer would be able to get it without any of them seeing it.

"Handy. I thought the Wood Villages only were a myth." Tziza commented as she looked at the place Ilena had just put the towel, then back at Ilena who was busy packing her stuff again.

"Yep, everyone believes that, which is for the best. All the people living in the Wood Villages have a criminal background. They would all be arrested again if people knew the myth was real." Ilena said as she finished packing, then swung the bag on her back as Zaheer emerged from behind a tree, still wearing his jail clothes, but looking a lot cleaner.

"So that's what was behind that filth" Tziza remarked dryly as she went over to give Zaheer a hug.

"Always with the snark, Tziza. You're sounding like Ming Hua." Zaheer joked as he returned the hug before he walked to the three girls. "I'm all set to go." He said as he held out his hand to them.

"Then let's go." Selvia said as she placed a hand on his, and with a flash, the group of six disappeared.

 **0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

And with that I end the sixth chapter of the story. I hope you liked it!

 **A/N:**

The plan to pretend to be Zaheer's parents was a cover story to get in. Xai Bau made it up so they would be able to get into the compound of the White Lotus.

Xai Bau is sixty and Tziza is fifty-eight, despite the small difference in ag

e Tziza keeps referring to Xai Bau as "old man" and "oldtimer" which is mostly mocking his role as leader and his continued wise remarks.

In the whole escape scene Ilena and Dizanna shined,since both girls were able to earthbend, though Selvia's first element was air. Just like Femke she unlocked another element from the cycle though none of the Vootrix seemed to have to follow the normal order of unlocking _(first water, then earth, then fire, then air)_ Selvia is always the silent one so she didn't had many lines now, she might be able to do more later.

Keep Xai Bau's protectiveness towards Zaheer in mind. It might have a certain reason.

I figured Zaheer might want to wash up before he would meet his friends again, besides the whole bust out would take a lot of the three fairies' energy and from what I have seen from all the Winx Club episodes I watched, I learned that magic won't react or will be weakened when a fairy is tired. Which would be the cause by a breakout.

Well that was all for now! I hope you enjoyed reading it, thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as beta reader and advisor.

 **Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7: reuniting the team

Chapter 7: Reuniting the Team

 **Femke's POV**

After Xai Bau, Tziza and the girls had left to bust out Zaheer, I was really nervous, knowing that missions like this could go wrong in all kinds of ways. And just as I wanted to tell the others I was going after them to see if they needed my help, a portal opened as Ilena, Dizzana and Selvia appeared first, after them master Xai Bau and miss Tziza and last, I gasped when I saw him, Zaheer came out of the portal alive and well.

 **"Zaheer!"** P'li called as soon as she spotted the airbender walk into the room.

 **"P'li! You're okay!"** Zaheer called as I saw tears form in the corner of his eyes. "Hey man, long time no see." Ghazan said casually as he walked to Zaheer and clapped him on his shoulder, like the two had seen each other yesterday, while in real it had been three years since the two men had last seen each other.

"Good to see you as well, Ghazan." Zaheer smiled as he gave Ghazan a small pat back, before he went over to hug Ming Hua who let him, since it had been quite some time since they had seen him.

"Let me guess, you washed up somewhere before you guys got here? Since I don't fancy they showered you more than two times a week?" Ming Hua asked with a smirk on her face after they parted.

"Not afforded that luxury." Zaheer commented with a small smile on his face, even do I knew he was deathly serious about not being able to wash up frequently in jail. "Wouldn't know how that feels like, being someone that uses water as a weapon." Ming Hua commented dryly.

"Well, prison is meant to punish someone. with that kind of luxury it wouldn't be punishment anymore." I brought in as I walked towards Zaheer with a smile on my face, looking him in the eyes for a moment before I hugged him, ignoring the fluttering feeling in my chest as he hugged me as well.

"You're probably right." Zaheer replied with a smile on his face as he pulled out of the hug. As he did so I could swear I saw a light blush cross his face.

 _'Knock it off. He is with P'li and you just got out of a relationship with Grovyle! It must have been that oversized imagination of yours."_ A voice in my head told me firmly as I watched Zaheer and P'li kiss, happy to be reunited at long last. Though something was different this time. Normally Zaheer was the one that kissed her and the kiss would at least last for 5 minutes. This time however P'li was the one that kissed Zaheer and the kiss lasted for 4 seconds because Zaheer broke away, which was very unusual for him.

"What's wrong?" P'li asked worriedly as soon as Zaheer broke away, feeling her boyfriend was seriously upset about something.

"Nothing. I just need to be alone for a moment." Zaheer said before he ran off, leaving the four of us looking after him worriedly. All of us feeling something was very wrong with our leader.

"What just happened?" Ming Hua asked after a long, tense silence in which all of us kept staring at the place Zaheer had ran off from.

"I don't know, but he was so confused that he forgot he could also use his flight to get up." Ghazan remarked. "Zan, this is not the time for that. Somethings up with him." Ming Hua snapped as she looked angrily at Ghazan.

"You're right, the last time we busted li out he couldn't keep his hands off her, remember? As soon as we sat down in the car she crawled in his lap so they could get all comfortable." Ghazan said as he sat down on the bench and plopped his feet on the coffee table. "This is strange for him. But an improvement if you ask me." He said as he now stretched his arms behind his head, which earned him a glare from Ming Hua.

"He might be confused since he…" Xai Bau started as he walked into the living room, but was quickly stopped by Femke cutting him off, fearing the old man knew about the kiss and would accidently tell P'li, something I wanted to avoid at all cost. Zaheer had to tell her. Not me, not anyone else.

"Since he what?" P'li asked as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow, not getting what had gotten into me all of a sudden but the look in her eyes told me she suspected I was hiding something from her. I looked at Xai Bau with desperation, pleading with everything in me that he wouldn't slip Zaheer's secret and maybe ruin their relationship in the proces. Luckily Xai Bau seemed to have caught my message and nodded as a sign he understood, after which I calmed down.

"I meant to say; after all he has been through. You shouldn't forget he thought the three of you died because of him while she..." And when he said _'she'_ he nodded to me. "Was badly injured. That is something you don't easily forget. The poor guy might still feel blame for what happened." Xai Bau said, though it was clear to me that hadn't been what he had wanted to say, thank goodness for me the others didn't notice. The truth would have most likely hurt, especially for poor P'li.

"I best go talk to him." P'li said after which she dashed upstairs to go and see Zaheer, which made me hope that Zaheer would tell her honestly about what happened once they were alone.

"Femke, may I have a word with you in the kitchen please?" Xai Bau asked, at which I nodded and got up from my seat, following him into our small kitchen and turning on a silencing spell as soon as I closed the door, figuring it was for the best Ming Hua and Ghazan would find out once Zaheer told P'li and not through me. "

 _'Besides, Ghazan is so casual. He would most likely let the truth slip to P'li the moment they're alone.'_ I thought as I walked towards Xai Bau a little after I was done with the spell so we could talk.

"Femke, Zaheer told me about the kiss and I understood you didn't want P'li to find out about it like that just now. But she has to know at some point." Xai Bau said as he looked at me sternly.

"I know. I told Zaheer to tell her since he kissed me. I didn't kiss back." I replied as I gave him a stern look.

"About that. Zaheer's kiss. How did it feel to you? Do you think he was doing it out of desperation or…?"

Xai Bau asked me.

"Or what?" I asked, not getting what else there could have been. That was, until something hit me and I started to shake my head violently.

"No. I mean... No I don't think he was desperate but I also didn't feel a spark as he did that. I'm not in love with him." I said angrily. The idea! Me being in love with a man that lied to me! The man that had almost tricked me into helping him kill people. Heck, the man that **DID** kill people.

 _"But he was also your Airbending teacher and he is very kind and gentle and... what?"_ I shook my head at the last part, not getting where that came from. Grovyle and i just broke up. I can't already fall in love with someone else.

 _'Come on. It's obvious. You're head over heels. Admit it. You love him!'_ A voice in my head told me, making me shake my head even wilder, not wanting to believe it.

 _'Zaheer is just a friend. He and P'li are a couple and I don't want to come in between.'_ I told myself firmly. I knew Zaheer still felt a lot for P'li.

"I think it was just another one of his mind tricks. To get the order of the White Lotus convinced to leave him with me. Even if it didn't work last time." I therefore told Xai Bau firmly. "He deluded me twice, so it is obvious that was all it was." I said before I walked to the door. Before i could walk out, Xai Bau firmly grabbed my lower arm and forced me to look at him.

"Love is one of the strangest things around and comes to you in the strangest ways. Remember that." the older man said with a stern voice as he looked at me so strictly that a shiver went down my spine.

"You and Zaheer have a history together and when I talked to him about this it was obvious to me he felt a spark." The Red Lotus founder continued as he looked at me a little softer now. "Tell P'li the truth. See what happens. Let Fate decide what's going to come next." He said calmly as he loosened his grip on my arm. For an older man he still had quite the firm grip. "Just as I believe it was Fate that brought you to Zaheer and the others." He said, before he walked out, leaving me alone to think. I knew Zaheer had promised me he would tell P'li but was he willing to risk his relationship with P'li by telling her? Since it would be both the first time Zaheer had done something behind her back and the first time she would get mad on him. to be honest I didn't want to have that on my name. Zaheer would never forgive me if I would do such a thing.

 _'But then again, it would be far worse if Xai Bau would tell P'li he kissed me. Also that would give of the wrong message. Like I liked being kissed by him.'_ I thought as I sat on the counter next to the sink and looked at the rustling trees in the neighbor's garden with a deep sigh, making up my mind. I couldn't come in between Zaheer and P'li. Zaheer would never forgive me if I would do that. He had to tell her himself. There was no other way around it.

 _'Come on Zaheer, just tell her the truth. Please.'_ I thought as I looked at the roof above us. I heard P'li's voice suddenly scream something. This was bad.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"Zaheer, can we talk?" P'li called a moment after I had stormed upstairs somewhere so I could be alone for a moment since that first kiss with P'li had been confusing. Not heavenly like it had been the last time we met up after a long time of separation. It was like I really let go of her.

 _'That's what_ _'letting go your earthly tethers'_ _means. You chose to fly. So you don't feel for her anymore.'_ A voice in my head told me firmly as I nodded and looked at her as she sat down next to me on the bed and took one of the dolls from the bed.

"You know, Femke has a whole bunch of these dolls. When I lost my memory I was all bottled up inside. It was like when you guys first came to get me. And just like you Femke never gave up on me. She often got these dolls and started to play silly games with them just to make me laugh." P'li smiled as she held a pink bunny shaped thing in her hand and looked at it with a smile on her face.

"It was hard, but over time I started to trust her and it felt like she was being the mother to me I always longed to have." P'li said as she closed in to me and wrapped an arm around me. "It did me some good even now. So don't feel guilty about what happened on Laghima's Peak okay?" She smiled at me as she took my hands in hers and looked at me with a loving glance in her eyes.

 _'I wish that was all.'_ I thought as I gently placed my head against hers and let one single tear fall down my cheek.

"That's not what is bothering me." I said as I took a deep breath. _'Just take a deep breath and tell her the truth.'_ I thought as I looked at P'li with a sad look.

"Then what is bothering you? You know you can always tell me everything." She said as she smiled at me, cupping up my chin so I was forced to look her in the eyes, which made tears fall over my face.

 _'I can't do it. I can't break her heart by telling her.'_ I thought as I looked to the side with a guilty face, unable to say the words.

 _'Zaheer. You have to tell her. Remember, you promised Femke.'_ A voice in my head I had never heard before said as suddenly a strange looking female appeared in the corner of the room that suddenly turned dark.

"Who are you?" I asked as I looked at her shocked, realizing I had seen her before in that one flashback I had.

"My name is Zedinia. Voortrix fairy of airbending and your past life." The woman said as she took a step towards me.

"I'm here to guide you. I know it's going to be hard and I know she might not take it well but you have to face what you did." The spirit of my past life said as she sat on the bed on the place P'li had been before.

"I know I should and I know I promised Femke. It's just that I'm..." I started, then looked to the side as my words failed me, hoping my past life would catch on what I wanted to say.

"I understand but as Guru Laghima once wrote: _facing consequences and fear is what makes the soul strong."_ Zedinia said as she placed a hand on my knee. "You kissed Femke. If you don't tell P'li the truth she won't be able to hide it forever." She continued.

"And you shouldn't either. Know that Guru Laghima would be so disappointed you if you did. What you're doing is against all of his teachings." Zedinia said as she gave me a stern look.

"How do you know? You lived a thousand years before he was even born." I asked with a raised eyebrow, which caused Zedinia to sigh and roll her eyes.

"Zaheer. I am you. I know what you know." Zedinia said, before shaking her head.

"That doesn't matter. Know that Laghima told the truth. However hard it is going to be." Zedinia said as she disappeared, and a moment later P'li sat next to me on the bed again, looking at me sternly.

"What did you do?" She asked with a firm look.

 _'Listen to you heart, Zaheer. Do what Laghima would have done and be honest.'_ Zedinia's voice called in my head, after which I took a deep breath, knowing she was right. Laghima would turn in his grave if he knew one of his biggest fans who have always lives his wisdoms refused to be honest.

"Femke came to see me off before they took me back to prison. She told me you all died. I now know she lied to protect you all." I started to tell, figuring I would be able to tell everything if I started at the beginning.

"So?" P'li asked with a raised eyebrow, not getting where I was heading with this.

"I was heartbroken about it. We soon had to part ways. I thought forever and she looked so..." I stammered, not knowing how to describe what I felt when I saw femke standing before me like that. With one arm bandaged and her eyes beaming when she saw me.

"Beautiful? Is that what you want to say?" P'li asked as she gave me a stern look, obviously she had a feeling where this was going.

"Yes. And I was feeling so sad and confused and I..." I stammered as i saw P'li's eyes turned dark with realization what i was about to say.

"I couldn't help myself. I kissed her. I'm sorry, Li." I said as I looked down, waiting for the blow to come.

 **P'li's POV**

"What did you do?" I asked with a firm look after which I saw Zaheer took a deep breath, and readied himself for whatever he was about to tell me, which made me get a bad feeling about what he was going to say.

"Femke came to see me off before they took me back to prison. She told me you all died. Which I now know was a lie to protect you all." Zaheer started to tell, probably figuring out I would be able to understand him better if he started by the beginning.

"So?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, not getting what Femke visiting him on his last day outside had to do with whatever he was about to tell me.

 _'Unless Femke did something in that last moment like kissing him.'_ A voice in my head said as I saw zaheer was deep in thought again for a moment.

 _'No. She would have told me if she had done something like is too good natured to keep something like that from me.'_ I thought to the voice, and it was true. Femke was a good natured girl and if she had done something like that, even if she had done it in a rage of emotion, she would have told me. She would never lie to me about a thing like that.

"I was heartbroken about it. We soon had to part ways. I thought forever and she looked so..." Zaheer continued as he started to stammer, not knowing how to describe the feeling he must have felt at that moment.

"Beautiful. Is that what you want to say?" I asked as I gave Zaheer a stern look as a picture started to get pieced together in my head.

 _'Femke would have told me if she had kissed Zaheer. But the other way around would be Zaheer's secret.'_ I thought as my eyes turned dark, as Zaheer looked down now with a mixture of pain and guilt about what he had done in his eyes.

"Yes. And I was feeling so sad and confused and I..." He stammered as he was seemingly fighting his tears now, knowing I was going to be very angry with him if he was going to say what I thought he was going to say. "I couldn't help myself. I kissed her. I'm sorry, Li." Zaheer said as he held his head down with a sorry look in his eyes.

"Why? Why did you do that?" I asked him calmly, not wanting to overreact by immediately screaming at him, since I hated it to be screamed at myself. "Because I thought she was the only one left and I think my feelings just got the better of me." Zaheer stumbled as he looked me in the eye, then to the side.

"So you thought there was no harm in kissing her." I asked him harshly as I got up and walked away from him with a hurt look in my eyes.

"Li, I thought you were dead and at Laghima's Peak, I…" he stammered once again, before he got up from the bed and floating before me.

"What?"I asked dumbstruck as I looked at Zaheer flying a little through the small attic room. _'He can fly! The legend of his favorite Guru is true! But how? And why now all of a sudden?'_ I thought as I watched him land before me.

"I'm able to fly now. I could ever since at Laghima's Peak. Since I entered the void." Zaheer said as he looked at me sternly.

"Your Earthly tethers?" I managed to bring out as I started to piece all the events together that had happened ever since Zaheer supposed I was gone.

"You were my last earthly tether. I let go after I thought I lost your forever. And part of me always kept blaming me for what happened." Zaheer said as he looked at me sadly.

"After all we've been through. After all the moments of passion and love between us you just let go of me the moment you think I'm dead?" I asked him coldly as I felt rage well up inside me.

"No. It was hard for me to let go, but it was either that or the Beifong sisters capturing me and then your sacrifice would have been in vain." Zaheer said as he turned around and gave me a firm look.

"It was horrible but I refused to give up the mission. Not while I thought you sacrificed your life for the cause of the mission." Zaheer said as he placed a hand on my shoulder and looked deep in my eyes, showing me he meant it.

 **"Yet you kissed someone else behind my back. How do you expect me to trust you now?"** I screamed at Zaheer now as I looked at him with tears in my eyes,

"I don't. P'li, maybe, maybe it's for the best we just stay friends for now." Zaheer said, and as he said this I felt my blood turn to ice.

 _"Are you saying you want to break up with me?"_ I whispered as I looked at him as tears started to well up in the corners of my eyes.

"I'm sorry P'li but if you say you're not going to trust me, maybe it is for the best we stay friends." Zaheer said as he looked at me sadly, before he turned away from me.

"I hate that it has to end for us like this. I really did love you but this. Us… Isn't going to work if there isn't any trust between us anymore." He said before he calmly walked to the door. "Despite that, know that I treasure any memories I have of us being together. Always." He said before he left the room, which made that I collapsed on the bed as tears streamed down my face.

"P'li…" I heard a voice come from the doorway. I didn't look up, knowing very well who that was. I recognized her voice anywhere. "Heer told me he broke up with you. Are you okay?" Femke asked as she sat down at the side of the bed I was sobbing on right now and placed a hand on my back in a comforting way.

"How does it look?" I asked as I looked up at her angrily.

"Rather dramatic for your doing." Femke joked as she sat me up and wrapped her arms around me. "But whatever you might think he kissed me and not the other way around, neither did I enjoy the kiss." Femke said as she looked at me, which immediately told me that she was telling the truth.

"Femke, be honest with me. Though you have any feelings for him?" I asked as I looked at Femke with tears still in my eyes.

"No. I don't." Femke said, but as she said this I saw something in her eyes, a moment of conflict, which told me that she was either lying to avoid getting screamed at, or she wasn't sure whether or not she had feelings for Zaheer.

 **Femke's POV**

"P'li?" I called after Zaheer had stormed into the living room, looking quite upset, which had signed to me something was up. And when I asked what happened he told us he and P'li broke up, after which I figured P'li might need some comforting even though I was a little hesitant to go near her in this state since it had been my fault they had broken up. "Are you okay?" I asked as I took one step into the room, instantly spotting P'li, she was lying on my bed with her head buried in my pillow, looking like a horrible mess.

"How does it look?" She asked a little snappy as she looked up at me with dark eyes, which could only mean trouble since I had never seen that look in her eyes before.

 _'I better explain I didn't enjoy him kissing me, before she blows the life out of me.'_ I thought as I sat on the side of the bed and placed a hand on her back in a comforting way.

"Rather dramatic for your doing" I joked carefully as P'li sat up and wrapped her arms around me, at which I did as well, giving her a hug. "But whatever you might think; he kissed me and not the other way around, nor did I enjoy the kiss." I said as I gave her the most serious look I had to sign to her that I was telling the truth.

"Femke, be honest with me. Do you have any feelings for him?" P'li asked me. After a short silence, which made me look up at her surprised since I hadn't expect that question from her.

"No. I don't." I said as I looked to the side, even though that was a lie, I wasn't sure what I was feeling right now. One one hand I wasn't over Grovyle leaving me yet and on the other, there was Zaheer. He was a very kind and caring towards me and despite the times he lied to me, I felt very close to him. Even closer then to the others. I think P'li might have noticed my conflicted feelings as well, since she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Femke, you don't have to lie to me if you do. I'm not mad at you, you didn't kiss back. It's just that I think after all we have been through and all the beautiful moments we experienced it's a shame it had to end like this." P'li said as she looked down sadly.

"I understand that you've been together for a long time for what I heard but know there is other fish in the sea. There are tons of people out there. And I'm sure there is one that wants to stay with you for the rest of his life." I said as I smiled at her "As one of my teachers once said: Every Pot has a lid. Even if that lid is yourself." I said, making the same face like Zaheer whenever he was quoting Guru Laghima.

" **Shut it!"** P'li called teasingly as she used the pillow she had previously sobbing in to smack me in the face. "Come on! I was just trying to cheer you up!" I smiled as I used another pillow to hit her back.

"Well, I guess it worked." P'li giggled as the pillow hit my face hard, causing me to topple over and fall on my back on the bed.

"Stop it!" I laughed as my sides started to hurt.

"Say you surrender." P'li smiled, a devious smile across her face as she did so.

"I surrender!" I laughed, this made P'li stop hitting me, smirking at me deviously.

"That's better." She smirked as took my pillow from where it had landed and put it back on the bed.

"I'm just glad that Zaheer didn't come between our friendship. I had never forgiven myself if we had gone and started fighting over a mere man." I said seriously now as I took my favorite doll from the bed and gave it a small hug.

"Me too. Though Zaheer is quite the catch." P'li smiled as she sat next to me and took another one of my dolls from the bed, which had one eye that looked the wrong way, since it was rather old.

"Hey, this one has a wonky eye." P'li noted as she gave the head of the doll a small smack to make the doll look straight again.

"Careful, she is rather old." I said with a smile as I looked at it, then smirked.

"But yeah, she has that quite often. It's because she is almost thirty-three years old." I said as I placed my doll on my pillow then placed P'li's next to mine.

"Did you keep all your dolls from when you were a child?" P'li asked as she looked at the small closet that was standing in a corner of the room and was packed with stuffed animals, dolls and photographs of loved ones that died over the years.

"Most of them, I only threw out what was broken since most of them hold dear memories." I said as I took a one of the four stuffed panda bears that sat on the closet and looked at it with a sad look.

"It was in the coffin of my adoptive father. I was four when he died." I said as I showed it to P'li as well as his picture which was standing next to it.

"You must have cared about him deeply. Sounds better than being sold like you mean nothing to your parents." She said as she looked at me seriously, which made me nod at her, then walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"I wish I had been there to save you from that horror before it all started." I said honestly as I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"You weren't. And there is nothing you can do about it." P'li said simply, accepting this was the harsh reality, something she had to live with. "But you saved me from becoming consumed by hatred for World Leaders." P'li smiled as the steps on the stairs became louder, followed by Zaheer calling us down for dinner.

 _"Want to ambush him?"_ I whispered to P'li with a devious smirk on my face. " _So he'll get blue in the face like a smurf?"_

 _"You have to ask?"_ She joked as I got a pillow from the bed and handed her another one, after which we got on either side of the stairs and waited. _"do… What is smurf?"_ P'li whispered as she looked around the corner where Zaheer arrived. I signed with my hand _'later'_ before we both jumped on Zaheer and hit him with the pillows.

 **"Ow..."** Zaheer groaned after we smacked him like this for a moment.

"How about some apologies from you, Mister?" I said firmly as I smacked my pillow in his face a few more times.

"How can I apologize with a pillow in my face?" Zaheer asked, which made me stop hitting him with it.

"That's better. I'm sorry. I had no right hurting your feelings. Neither of you." Zaheer said with his head down. But despite that I could clearly see he was speaking the truth, it was clear from the look on his face.

"I accept your apology." I said solemnly, then looked at P'li who looked at me, then at Zaheer, before she gave a curt nod as a sign she forgave him as well.

"What are the plans now? Are we going to hide on Earth for the rest of our days?" Zaheer asked.

"We thought you could use a few days to get some rest after spending three years in jail to regain some strength then we could go back and, you know, try to save the world." I smirked as I jumped on the bed and looked down at my two friends as the others walked into the room as well.

 **Normal POV**

"But, how do we do that?" P'li asked as she looked at Femke sadly, since all they had known until now was how destroy the world, not save it.

"By defeating lord Darkar. He is the ultimate evil." Femke said as she got into one of her desk's drawers and got out a book, showing a Paladin that looked like a Shadow Phoenix.

"How are we going to defeat something looking that powerful?" Ming Hua asked Femke as she stood, wavering on her spider-like water limbs, who looked at her with a calm look.

"By practice, concentration and making a plan before acting. To prevent us from almost getting killed **again."** Femke said, giving Zaheer a stern look as she said _**'again',**_ who reacted by bowing his head.

"Femke, we know how to make plans." Zaheer commented calmly as he looked to the side. "We're not kids."

"Femke. you never told us how exactly did lord Darkar came to be." P'li asked, changing the subject as she sat down on the side of Femke's bed and inspected the picture with the strange ancient looking text next to it with a calm look.

"That's because no one asked me before." Femke said as she nodded at P'li , who nodded in return.

"Care to tell us now?" Ming Hua asked as she looked at her friend in an annoyed way, feeling like she was treated like a child as well.

"Okay then, well. _A long time ago the Voortrix were the ancient protectors of the magical kingdom. They had the strongest power after the mighty Dragon Flame who created the magic kingdom."_ Femke started as she sat down on the beth and looked at her friends with a serious face.

"Alright, storytime." Ghazan smirked as Femke started, which caused Ming Hua to roll her eyes at him.

"Don't encourage her to treat us like children." She snapped as she gave him a smack on the back of his head.

 _"Their city; Voorfield, was one of the most magical places in the whole Magic Kingdom. All kinds of people and races lived together in happiness and the city was thriving thanks to this. But there were pirates on the coast. People that wanted to steal the Voortrix flame and use it for evil purposes." Femke continued as Feria's medallion started to glow and Feria took over and told the rest of the tale. The others looked at her with widened eyes, since they could see the events of his past happen before their eyes._

 _"To protect the village from danger, they asked their strongest Paladin named Lightheart to accept a part of their Voortrix, which would turn him into a creature of Light that would be able to withhold any enemy that would attack the village if the Voortrix were gone to save the world, but…"_

 _ **"The power is too strong! I can't hold it any longer!"**_ _A female voice cried in Zaheers head, causing the older male to cover his ears and look down with a shocked gasp._

 _ **"We have to hold on, Zedinia! Were so close!"**_ _Feria's voice replied, after which Zaheer could hear loud screams and thumbing, and after that a loud echoing laughter that sounded like pure evil._

 _"We didn't realized that giving him so much of our powers awakened a long buried greed that lied in the heart of every human being. A greed for power; the remainder of our powers. From that day Lightheart the Paladin was gone. From that day on he was known as Lord Darkar. The people of the village blamed us for what happened to Lightheart and despite the fact that we told them we had no idea this would happen and we even apologized for making this happen they banished us from the village and stopped believing in us._

 _"We have to bring Lightheart back! But how? How do we convince him that greed will only cause him pain and destruction?"_ They heard a voice in their head call that didn't sounded familiar to them as they saw a group of nine people stand around a rock on which a map was placed down.

 _"How are we going to do that without Lightheart stealing our powers? We can't lose them."_ Zedinia's voice asked, sounding rather distressed and worried for the wellbeing of her people, despite the fact that these people had banished her and stopped believing in them which weakened their powers.

 _We decided to let Darkar come to the Voortrix, and then try to talk to him. Try and get our friend Lightheart back, but it was no use. Our village was destroyed and so were we. Ever since that day, Lightheart has been hunting for the new Voortrix to get their powers."_ Feria's voice concluded her story.

"And then what?" Ghazan asked.

 _"If that happens, all will be lost. All worlds will be destroyed. Plunged into a never ending darkness."_ Feria said, which made Ghazan look up at her before he got up.

"That's settled then. We will fight with all we have. We won't let Darkar or Lightheart or whoever he is destroy our world and everyone we love." Ghazan said as he got up and looked at his friends firmly.

"Right?" He asked as he looked at his still sitting friends with a smirk on his face.

"Sure, I think, one question Mister Caution. How do we do that?" Ming Hua said as she rolled her eyes at him.

" _You must find all members of the Voortrix first, learn how to use all four elements so when the time comes you can combine your strength and retake what is yours."_ Feria said, before the medallion stopped glowing and Femke fell on the beth, unconscious.

"Well, that was bright as mud." Ming Hua commented as Zaheer walked to Femke and placed a hand on her forehead.

"She must have been exhausted." Zaheer said as he moved her into the bed and tucked her in. "We should all get to bed. It's rather late." P'li said as she looked at the radio clock in Femke's nightstand which stated it was half past twelve in the night.

"Yeah, let's pack up for the night." Ghazan yawned as he climbed in one of the beds Femke's adoptive mother had made in the room.

"Good night people." Ming Hua said as she lied down as well.

"Night." P'li yawned as she lied down last after turning off the light, crouching into bed and curling up, which had become a habit for her. She felt safe near the woman that had been more like a mother to her then anyone had ever been to her, before she let her mind drift off to a deep dreamless sleep.

 **0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000**

And with that I end a rather long chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, despite the length.

 **A/N:**

I'm not very good at writing break up scenes, neither was my beta reader paranoidgirl. We tried our best to make it as believable as possible so please don't hate us if it isn't very realistic.

I wanted to include some information about how Darkar came to be now, since no-one really asked how Darkar came to be yet and Darkar being Lightheart before is going to play a big part in the story.

Of course Zaheer had to apologize for being a dick to both Femke and P'li and it popped in my mind like this. Really, as I was writing the story images of P'li and Femke smacking Zaheer with pillows to make him apologize got in my mind, and come on! Those girls deserved some revenge!

Well that was all! I hope you enjoyed reading this. Thanks for reading. Just don't forget to thank paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as a beta reader and don't forget to leave your thoughts in a **review!**


	8. Chapter 8: a life on earth

Chapter 8: A life on Earth

 **Normal POV**

The next day, Femke woke up yawning, rubbing her eyes out lazily before she looked to her side, smiling as she saw P'li was lying next to her, smiling a little as she seemed to be fast asleep.

 _'That was a strange dream yester…'_ I started my thought, but I stopped in the middle when I saw Zaheer, lying on the floor next to his bed. ' _ **It wasn't a dream! Zaheer is back with us!'**_ I thought as I carefully slipped out of bed and got dressed before I went downstairs. My adoptive mother Anna was already awake and busy making breakfast, while master Xai Bau was looking at an Earth newspaper.

"I must say, Earth seems to have their own set of problems." The older man observed as he looked at Femke coming into the living room holding a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, things are a little different here then in your world. We have a lot more electronic stuff." Femke said as she pointed to the television with the remote, which made it instantly go on.

"I know that's a mover device. Varrick invented those." Xai Bau said as he walked to the television and watched as the news broadcasts of the Prime Minister of the Netherlands visiting a country that has been long in war with the Netherlands over resources.

"Well, we call it a television and it was invented a long time ago here." Femke explained as she sat down and looked at Prime Minister Jan Patrollo walking down the stairs of his airplane and over a red carpet to the leader of the other country.

"What's with the stiffneck with the strange haircut?" Ghazan asked as he sat down on the side of the bench and looked at the images on the television, not at all thinking it was strange or scary what he was seeing, even though it must be the first time he saw a television.

"He is elected as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, visiting a country in the East were war is raging right now, but that country has a long history with the Netherlands In the way of war as well." Femke explained as she pointed at the man with the blonde hair that pointed up in a spiky way, who gave the black haired man that stood tall before him a hand.

"Do you guys elect all your leaders here?" Ming Hua yawned as she came in as well, wearing my bathrobe with snoopy print over a nightgown she had most likely picked from my drawer last evening after I had passed out. It looked good on her.

"Most of our countries. Though some don't. Those are mostly the countries that are in fights as to who will get the power." Femke said as she smiled at P'li who came and sit next to her and looked warily at the television.

"Like the country we're in. We still have a King." Femke said as she nodded to the television were king Alex the sixth and his family just arrived in Spain for a formal meeting with the leader of Spain to talk about matters of states.

"They shouldn't. Kings and Queens are mostly tyrants who only think about themselves." Xai Bau stated firmly, which made Femke giggle.

"Still with that ideology i see. Well Kings and Queens are just like everything in the world; a little different." I smiled as I turned on another channel where a more in-depth report was being shown about the political visit of the King and Queen to spain together with their three daughters who were waving happily at the crowd as they walked over the red carpet.

 _"I still can't wrap my head around people actually liking_ Royalty." Xai Bau muttered as he looked at the programming in disgust, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"There are people in this world who think Kings and Queens are a thing of the past as well." I replied as I looked at the television with a sad look, remembering there have been countless attempts on the members of our Royal Family's lives over the years.

"But some people still like the Kings and Queens of this world, though some of them are more an icon in this world then that they really rule the Kingdom." I said, and it was true. the King and Queen did do part of the ruling, not like the Earth Queen who ruled the kingdom mostly on her own and terrorized everyone who was against her.

In this country the Ministers also had a say in every matter and those people were elected and mostly not corrupt.

"Wait, here the king and queen aren't in absolute control?" Xai Bau asked. "Like what happened with the Earth King and Long Feng?"

"Not at all, the Senate and House of Representatives do most of the ruling work and those people get elected every year." I replied smiling, which made P'li look up at me with a smile as well.

"Sounds great. That means at least things go fair and square. Mostly." P'li smiled, knowing all full well that every person could be persuaded to corruption.

"Just like you said: mostly it goes well, there have been some scandals over the years, admittedly." I said, remembering all those headlines in the papers saying another politician had been caught doing something corrupt for which they were removed from power.

"But if they're caught and they can prove he did something wrong he is fired as a minister." I said as I turned the channel to another where the weather forecast was announced.

"To change the subject. The mover device looks like it works differently then that thing Varrick used to show his movers on. How does it work?" P'li asked as she looked at the television with a raised eyebrow were the Weatherman was just telling the weather forecast of tomorrow.

"Technology is a little different from your world." Femke explained smiling at P'li, who smiled as she looked at the television again as some children's programming started.

"At least nothing seems dangerous around here like in those Nuktuk movers." Xai Bau grinned, since he had seen the movers Varrick had made with Bolin in the leading role.

"True, we don't really have doomsday devices here. Just regular bombs. Which is bad enough if you ask me since those things can do a lot of damage." Femke said, remembering all too well the history lessons about the Second World War.

"Are the bombs here different well from the ones we use as well?" Ghazan asked as he slouched on the couch.

"Well, we have Nuclear Bombs which are very dangerous." Femke said as she looked to the other side.

 **Femke's POV**

After that explanation, Zaheer came in, yawning as he rubbed out his eyes.

"I don't know people, but it is nine in the morning, some people want to sleep." He said as he stretched a little.

"Coffee is on the counter, if you like you can grab some." I told Zaheer calmly as I looked at him with a small smile. He was still wearing his prison clothes, but his hair was a little shorter and he had taken a shower.

' _He sure does look handsome in those.'_ I started to think, but shook my head as I caught myself. _'Come on, Femke! You just lost Grovyle. Most likely to Celebi, get a grip.'_ I told myself firmly as I watched Zaheer walk to the kitchen and reappear with a cup of coffee a moment later.

"Never been match of a morning person, have you?" Ghazan commented, smirking as he took a sip from his own coffee.

"I hate mornings. Especially right after three years of prison." Zaheer smirked as he sat down next to me and yawned again, which made his hand touched my shoulder lightly. As soon as Zaheer felt this, he quickly retreated his hand and looked away from me with a blush on his face.

"So what are the plans? Are we going to spend the rest of our days on Earth holed up in an apartment?" Zaheer asked as he took a sip from his coffee.

"We wanted to wait a few weeks here so you can get some rest and recover from your prison sentence, then we go back and start training to save the world." I said as I sipped my own coffee. The others nodded to confirm this.

"You know, last time I recovered as fast as I did because of fresh air and the freedom of the world. I don't have to stay cooped up here to recover." Zaheer said as he looked at his friends.

"We know, but the White Lotus will be on our tails if we show up somewhere in your world with you now." Ming Hua said, reminding Zaheer that they were still wanted there. "We promised to better ourselves, Zaheer. If we show up with you now, they will assume we busted you out." She continued.

"Which we didn't." Ghazan added as he folded his arms behind his head and looked at the two who did.

"So we just stay here for a few weeks, which will be a few months in the Avatar World because time moves differently here, so the search for you will have piped down by then." I explained as I looked at Xai Bau with a small smile who nodded in return.

"I will announce I was the one who freed you in a few days and tell them you wanted to quit the Red Lotus as well to be with your friends." Xai Bau said as he gave Zaheer a stern look, Tziza nodded.

"Would that be wise? Wouldn't that only make that they will know where to find me?" Zaheer questioned with a raised eyebrow, not so sure if the plan of his master would work.

"They will if I announce the Red Lotus has been disbanded before I do so." Xai Bau said with a smile on his face.

"No, I think Zaheer is right" I said as I got up and looked at Xai Bau. "Just say he is in a safe place and won't cause trouble again. If they were to know Zaheer is with us again they will hunt us down." I said as I looked at Xai Bau sternly. "We don't want them to hunt us down. We need to be able to train our powers in peace." I said, knowing it would take a lot of time and effort to train to get all four elements. Things would only more difficult if we had to flee from one place to the other to avoid capture.

"Okay, if you insist." Xai Bau said with a sigh as he plopped back in his chair.

 **P'li's POV**

"So until then I thought it is about time I get to ride that bicycle thing Femke keeps talking about." I smirked as I looked at femke who smirked back.

"Okay, let's go.." Femke smiled.

 _'Though for the people here it might already be odd that we as adults don't know how to use a bicycle.'_ I thought as I walked to the kitchen with Femke who went upstairs where she opened her drawers and started to look over her clothes.

"I have plenty of clothes for this planet, if you want to borrow some." Femke smiled as she offered me a yellow t-shirt with a man on it who had whirlpools as eyes and pointed a similar weapon in the air as femke always wore her belt and had it held out before her on the photo her adoptive mother had shown us yesterday.

"Joey dalton from the Lucky Luke series." Femke grinned as she held up the shirt so I could take a better look at it.

"He looks dangerous." I grinned as I took it over and placed it down, then searched through Femke's other clothes. Most off her shirts had funny prints on them with either animals doing something funny or cartoon creatures acting silly. In the end i chose one shirt with a print on it of a cartoon creature called _'Animal'_ from the muppets movies Femke had told me about, as well as a pair of blue pants.

"They don't fit." I stated as I looked at my new getup with a frown, since they were hanging around my body in a sloppy way.

"Which would have been a problem if you didn't have a best friend with magic fingers." Femke smiled after which she waved her hand, making the clothes so that they fit me perfectly.

"Nice." I smirked as I looked at myself in the mirror that stood in a corner of the room.

"I look so different. Never thought I ever would after all that time under Mogui."

"Well, you can dress however you want around me." Femke started as she came to stand next to me and wrapped an arm around me. With that she gave me a brush. I used it to comb my hair, which had grown out quite a bit.

"You were blinded by all the lies that Warlord told you and your mission to see it."

The Brunette smiled as I finished brushing and took a ribbon to tie my hair in a ponytail.

When I came down the others looked at me strangely. Since i seemingly looked quite differently now.

"Looking good, 'Li" Ghazan smirked as he came down as well, wearing some blue jeans as well, together with a black t-shirt were the text " _Rock You"_ printed on his chest, while Zaheer wore a grey t-shirt with a strange yellow man printed on it, holding a hammer and a pin in his hands which he was trying to put into the wall. _'slow man at work_ ' the text above and under the print said.

"Okay, let's go. Where's Ming?" Ghazan asked as he looked for a sign her, but there was none. "I'll handle this one." He said, before he dashed up the stairs and out of sight.

 **Ming hua"s POV**

I was sleeping in a bed on Earth. It was very comfortable, yet somehow this warmth and comfort seemed to call upon a very odd dream. One I never had before in my life.

 _00000000000000000000Dream000000000000_

 _"A princess! A princess is born to the water tribe!" Ming Hua heard a strange voice call out._

 _"What's her name?" she heard another voice ask, sounding excited about the news._

 _"Princess MingHua Akira-Ai." The first voice called, after which a loud applause was heard._

 _ **"Long live princess MingHua! Long live King Galor and Queen Ami!"**_ _Many voices called._

 _I was lying somewhere soft, there was something warm wrapped around me and above me hang a beautiful mobile with two happy playing Polar Bear pups as a lovely tune played. I wanted to reach for it, but I wasn't able to since I had no arms, yet I felt something soft rub against my cheek, I tried to turn my head, and as my body somehow reacted I saw to my great surprise my plush Polar Bear Dog Ami was lying next to me._

 _"Ming Hua darling, uncle Tonraq wants to meet you." A sweet voice called out from above me, and as it did a voice of a older version of me showed up above me and lifted my very small feeling body up in her comfortable arms, and when she did so I saw a crown on her head, meaning whoever this woman was, was royalty._

 _'What's going on here? Is that me in the future nursing my child? No, she has arms, that can't be it.'_ _I thought as my eyes skimmed around the room, which was light, very beautiful and as the dream baby somehow gazed the way I wanted them to gaze to, they fell on the man that stood next to the woman that held me, who looked like chief Tonraq, only around thirty years younger, smiling as he handed a small package._

 _'What is going on here? You should hate me. Why aren't you trying to kill me?'_ _I wondered as the woman opened the package while pretending it was me who was opening it. Smiling as she got a heart formed necklace out that beared the same playing Polar Bear Dogs on it as the one's that hang above my crib._

 _'MingHua' The Kanji above the symbol said, and as Tonraq opened it she could see a picture of two people that looked relatively like me, both wearing royal accesories, holding a smaller looking version of me in a loving way._

 _'Right. if that was me I wouldn't have ended up like…'_ _I started my thoughts, but stopped as the room turned dark all of a sudden and I was feeling like I was lying in a crib again. Suddenly i felt someone picked me up. Some rustling around me and when I looked in the eyes of the one that carried me I gasped in horror. My mother, Mina Hua._

 _00000000000000000000000end of dream0000000000000000000000000000000000_

 _ **"No!"**_ I gasped as I sat up, looking around, dazed. For a moment I had no idea where I was, that was until Ghazan showed up.

"Just wanted to say Li is finally going to try that non-motorized bike Femke told us so much about and you were screaming in your sleep." Ghazan said as he looked at me with a grin.

"Great. Now get lost so i can get dressed." I snapped at him, not wanting him around right now. Not after that weird dream. I rather wished Femke or P'li came upstairs.

"Sure thing." Ghazan said before heading downstairs.

 **"Zan. Did you try to wake Ming?"** I heard Femke's voice call out on the stairs, sounding rather annoyed.

"Didn't have to." I heard Ghazan reply, and a sigh coming from Femke following after that.

"Zan, I said _'wake her up'_ not _'scare the crap out of her'._ You're lucky she let you leave in one piece." Femke said, which made me grin. Maybe I should've just diced him.

"Well, she is awake. I'm getting breakfast." Ghazan said, after which he went downstairs.

"Morning, Ming." Femke said as she walked into the room and opened the curtains. "Did you sleep well?"

"I had a strange dream. For the rest I slept great." I said dryly as I watched Femke open a drawer and started to get out some clothes.

"What kind of dream?" Femke asked as she looked up at me

.

"I saw a man and a woman looking much like me. They were some sort of royalty. They had a baby and I felt like I was the child." I stumbled as I tried to describe the dream to Femke, who now came to sit next to me, wrapping an arm around me when I told her I saw my mother take the baby from the palace right before I woke up.

"Wow, that is one heavy dream but as far as I know only Eska and Desna were born to Water Tribe royalty and Tonraq and Unalaq before that." Femke said as she gave me a pondering look.

"Whoever that woman was, she called Tonraq the child's uncle. Did Tonraq and Unalaq have a sister?" I asked, knowing Femke had been in the position to ask about these kind of things when Unalaq was still around.

 **Femke's POV**

"Well, he did mention a older sister. But not that she had a child. Nor that this child was stolen from her." I replied after a moment of silence in which I tried to recall the one conversation I had with Unalaq, right before he kissed me on that stage. An image that still horrified me when I thought about it.

"Maybe if we could visit the Northern Water Tribe we could try and find out if she did."

Ming Hua said as she gave me a firm look. "Besides it is the place to learn those boneheads waterbending." She added with a grin, and I couldn't help but grin as well. Though I felt Ming had a deeper reason for wanting to know whether or not her dream had been real.

 _'Her parents. Or the people she always believed to be her parents didn't care one bit about her. If there are people who truly love and care about her, of course she wants them back.'_ A voice in my head said as I looked at the ceiling for a moment, thinking about this. I looked at Ming Hua, who was looking at the stacks of clothes with a raised eyebrow, not getting my sense of fashion.

"As we travel, we could visit the Northern Water Tribe but to get the truth, well, we might have to face the people that claim to be your parents. Do you think you're up to that?" I asked with a stern voice, not because I thought she was weak. But I knew her parents had caused her a lot of pain. It was just that I was wondering if she was willing to face her past to get to the bottom of her dream.

"I will be by the time we're going." She said as she picked up a light blue shirt with a darker blue spiral on it, looking at it with a cocked head.

"What is with the odd fashion around here?" She asked as she held the shirt up my way and made a face like she didn't like it, which made me laugh, since Ming Hua never had commented about any of my clothes before.

"I don't like fancy. This is best they have apart from designers clothes, which are way more expensive." I said with a grin as I shrunk the shirt with my powers so it would fit Ming, who looked at it with a raised eyebrow.

"You think I like that?" She asked me with a raised nose, though I could feel she was lying. Probably just to save face.

"I can feel you're lying" I smirked at her, which made she smirked at me widely before she tried the shirt on and as she did I had to hold back a gasp, it really looked very well on her. Far better than It had ever looked on me.

"Looks good on you." I complimented, smiling as I gave her a pair of plain jeans to cover up the lack of her legs.

"Thanks, though this feels very strange." Ming Hua said as she took over a hairbrush to do her hair in a ponytail, before we headed downstairs and into the backyard to get my bicycle from the garden shed.

 _'I hope the thing isn't broken, that would be a bummer.'_ I thought as I made my way to the back and got my bicycle, trying to not look at the small pink tricycle that had belonged to Christie, because the memories of her and Grovyle still stung in my heart.

 **"Got it! I better get some air back in the wheels. I haven't used it for so long."** I called to the others as I came out with the bicycle in my hand, which made the four Red Lotus members come closer as I put my bicycle on it's stand and got back in to get the pump, still trying to avoid to look at Christie's small tricycle standing in the corner.

"Where's the engine? How will it gain enough speed to balance without an engine?" P'li commented.

"You'll find out soon enough." I smiled as I pumped up the wheels and then handed the thing to her after we walked out of the back yard though the gate.

"Now what you want do is sit on the saddle, kick the paddles and keep the steering wheel of your bike straight like you would a motorcycle." I explained as I handed the bicycle to P'li now, who took it over and sat on the saddle a little uncomfortable.

"You're your own engine." I joked lightly, do this was the first mistake I made as well when I was on the bicycle for the first time, right after my adoptive mother had taken me in. P'li tried this, only to waver and hit a wall.

"Sure. That makes sense." P'li backfired jokingly as she dusted herself off and got onto the bicycle again.

"I thought that part was obvious." I smiled as I gave P'li a playful push before we tried again. This time she managed to reach the end of the back porch, before she hit the wall again.

"Next time, try the brakes." I said, pointing them out.

"Now you tell me." P'li joked as she got up again and rode a little over the road now on her own, using the brakes to slow down a little to get the hang of that as well.

"I'm actually getting the hang of this." P'li smiled as she rode up and down the street two times, which was relatively safe since there weren't many cars in our street.

 **"Others might want to try it out, too."** Ming Hua called in an annoyed way, since even do this has all been P'li's idea she really wanted to try the bicycle as well now, and so did the other two.

"Okay then." P'li smiled, stopping easier this time and getting of before she handed the bicycle to Zaheer, who looked at her, surprised.

 **P"li's POV**

"Here you go." I smirked, since Zaheer had been snickering both times I had bumped into a wall, so now I wanted to see how he would be doing on a bicycle.

"Okay." zaheer smirked as he took the bicycle back to the back porch and got up. He managed to speed up a little, before he smashed straight into a wall.

"Not as easy as it seems." I smirked as I walked to him and helped him up again while Ming Hua got up the bike and before Zaheer could do anything she had gotten onto the saddle and bended her water into both arms and legs, seemingly trying to focus on keeping both going she tried to do what we did as well, which failed utterly and made she smacked down on the ground hard.

"Great, bicycling is just not going to work if you have no actual limbs." Ming Hua snapped as she picked herself up from the ground with her water limbs.

"Something it just takes a little more practice. You know, I didn't get it right for years either." Femke smiled as Zaheer got onto the bicycle again.

"Did you do so without limbs?" Ming challenged as she watched Zaheer smash into a wall yet again, which made me snigger.

"No, but I know it takes time, practice and balance. Things I know you have in you." Femke smiled as we all watched Zaheer finally managing to reach the end of the street, only to almost bump into a car, causing the man behind the wheel to point at his forehead in a frustrated way.

" **Sorry!"** Zaheer called as he waved at the man in an apologizing way, then got back on his bicycle.

 **"Good going! Almost hit a car! Even i didn't manage that**!" I called to him as Femke's adoptive mother got another bicycle from the shed and handed it to Ghazan, who took it over with a smirk, before he acted like he wanted to ride in on me, turning away on the last possible second.

"Look! No…!" he started his line, but because he looked back at me he didn't watched where he was heading and smashed into a fence.

"That poor fence is taking a lot of punishment." I smirked as Femke made two copies of the two bicycles and handed me one, holding the other one while Ming Hua, still sour, took a hold of the other one.

"Go on, I'll be here to help."Femke told her smiling at which Ming nodded and bended her water arms and legs again, trying both to focus on keeping them in tact and paddling with her water legs while she had to use her water arms to steer. Femke stayed close and helped her speed up, before she let go, which went well first, before she lost control over her water limbs all off a sudden and fell. Hard.

"And here I thought I was the only one who wasn't going to get it done." Ghazan smirked as he rode by, instantly riding into a wall as he kept his eyes on Ming who lied on the ground and, to my shock, looked like she was close to crying.

 **Ming Hua's POV**

"Not as easy as it seems." P'li smirked as Femke walked to Zaheer and helped him onto his feet again, while I walked to the bicycle and got it into my water arms. The thing was kinda heavy, but not too heavy for me.

 _'Now let's see if I can ride on this thing._ ' I thought smirking before looking down with a gasp when I realized I forgot something. For this you need legs as well as arms, which posed a problem since they were gone and I couldn't just bend some new ones right away.

 _'I almost forgot about those damn things.'_ I thought as I tried to make water legs, which was difficult since I needed joints for the paddles, but as soon as I tried to move my water legs while I kept my water arms around the steering wheels, I lost control of both, which made me fall on the ground. Hard.

"Bicycling is just not going to work if you have no actual limbs." I snapped as I got up with my water limbs.

"Something it just takes a little more practice. You know, I didn't get it right for years either." Femke smiled at me as Zaheer got onto the bicycle again, not even bothering to ask if I was alright.

 _'Not that I want him to.'_ I thought with a smirk on my face, since I knew they knew me well enough to know that would happen if they were worried over my well being. I can handle myself.

"Did you do so without limbs?" I therefore huffed in reply to Femke's words as we watched Zaheer smash into a wall yet again, which made P'li snicker a little at the sight of zaheer smash into a wall, amused he couldn't seemed to get it done either.

"No, but I know it takes time, practice and balance. Things I know you have in you." Femke told me as she smiled, while we all watched Zaheer finally managing to reach the end of the back porch, only to almost smash into a car, causing the man behind the wheel to point at his forehead in a frustrated way.

" **Sorry**!" Zaheer called as he waved at the man in an apologizing way, then got back on his bicycle.

 **"Good going! Almost hit a car! I didn't manage that!"** P'li called to him in a teasing way as Femke's adoptive mother got another bicycle from the shed and handed it to Ghazan, who took it over with a smirk, before he acted like he wanted to ride in on P'li, turning away on the last possible second.

"Look! No…!" He started his line, but because he looked back at me he didn't watch where he was heading and smashed into the fence.

"That poor fence is taking a lot of punishment." P'li called to Zaheer with a smirk on her face as Femke made two copies of the two bicycles and handed P'li one, handing me the other one so I could place myself on it somewhat apprehensively.

"Go on. I'll be here to help." Femke told me smiling, at which I nodded, at one hand happy she wanted to help me and on the other end annoyed she kept treating me like a helpless child. As I bent my water arms and legs again, trying both to focus on keeping them in tact and paddling with my water legs to get this thing going while I had to use her water arms to steer. Femke stayed close to me all this time and helped me speed up a little before she let go, which went well first, and almost made me believe I was going to get it done, before I lost control over her water limbs again all off a sudden and fell even harder this time.

"And here I thought I was the only one who wasn't going to get it done." Ghazan said as he rode by with a victorious smirk on his face, instantly riding into a wall as he kept his eyes focused on me, which made me snicker at first, before I realized he was right. If I didn't manage to get my joints of my water limbs to work, I would never be able to do this.

 _ **"Failure. Can't handle something as simple as a bicycle."**_ The voice of my father called in my head, which made me shrink in fear, even after all this time and all the things I have been through, his voice still made me shudder like mere five year old who got scolded for naughty behavior. All because I was a failure to the family to him.

 _"I'm trying father, I really am I'm just not good at very precise jobs."_ The voice of a younger me called in my head as I felt two soft hands wrapped around me as I heard a voice call out _'what's wrong?'_ near me.

 _'I have to keep trying. I am not weak I am not a failure'_ I thought as I closed my eyes and tried to keep my tears from falling, since I didn't wanted to cry near people. They couldn't see me weak. Never.

" _ **But you are weak. You are nothing but a big failure. It was a mistake to keep you alive."**_ My father's voice called in my head.

 _'I am not weak. I'm not.'_ I thought back as I felt the tears grow stronger in my eyes. That was until I suddenly heard Femke sang the very familiar sounding song she always sang to me but strangely, this made another unfamiliar song suddenly appear in my head.

 _Polar Bears play in the sun, happy and carefree_

 _Someday you will know how the world became, just like me_

 _I will be here to love and guide you as the sun will rise high_

 _I will always be there until the day I die_

 _Polar Bear dog, Polar Bear dog play in the sun_

 _Growing and having fun_

 _You're so small and your so young, unaware of what's around you_

 _But you will be saved and you will be loved, by those who stand around you_

 _'What is that song?. It sounds so familiar. It says I am being loved. But I'm not. Not by my parents.'_ I thought as I stirred to get up but couldn't and with the song playing, I passed out.

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And with that I end the eighth chapter of my story! I hope you all liked it! I'm sorry it is a bit long, but I needed to space out certain events here, so I needed all the space I took now, sorry.

 **A/N:**

I thought it would be nice to bring up some of the inner workings of our world, since they had been so against world leaders before and monarchy is still a big part of the Earth's culture, e bad people like the Earth Queen and Fire Lord Ozai.

At though of course the ruling of the king there is far different than the ruling of a king here on Earth. I thought it would just be nice to bring up, so they could see that not all world leaders are

long last P'li got to try a bicycle! I think Femke would lack in instructing a little which would result in some bumps, but she would pick it up soon enough, since it looked to me like they're quick learners.

Yeah, Ming Hua's lack of legs and lacks is getting in the way of quickly learning how to use the bicycle, since she would most likely just use her water arms to move around now, just like she did in the series while fighting, but using legs for riding would mean trying to incorporate their joints, which would be difficult even for her.

Well, that was all for now! Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as Beta Reader and adviser.

 **Please leave a review!**


	9. Chapter 9: On the run again

Chapter 9: On the Run Again

 **Femke's POV**

"Ming? What happened?" I asked shocked as I looked at my friend, who was currently shaking in my arms, after she had fallen from her bicycle for the second time in a row.

"She's fine. I think she passed out. Let's get her inside." Zaheer said as he came to stand next to me and placed a hand on Ming's forehead to check how she was doing. This caused him to touch me once again and made that I felt a strange flutter in my chest, which I ignored. This was not the time or place to think about that. We had to focus on helping Ming to get out of whatever she was in.

 _"No. I'm not weak. I'm not."_ I heard her mumble under her breath as we took the bicycles back into the shed, before walking into our home where I placed Ming on the bench like I had done last time, hoping she would snap out of whatever she was in out of her own soon enough.

 _'Poor girl, she must be remembering her past again. Maybe learning her to use a bicycle wasn't such a good idea.'_ I thought as I stroked her over her head and sang. _'She couldn't laugh'_ for her, feeling this would bring her some comfort, and it seemed it did, since it made she stopped squirming in fear of whatever she had been seeing before and most likely fully fall asleep.

 _'She will be fine. Ming is a strong one, she will wake up soon enough.'_ I thought as I got behind my pc and turned it on, not noticing Ghazan got right behind me and looked at the screen curiously.

"Never saw that before. What is it?" He asked as he tapped against the screen, laughing a little when a photo of the four of them appeared on my screen, which I saved as my new screensaver.

"It's called a _'computer'._ We use it to communicate with people all over the world, play games on it and search for information faster than a library." I explained as I opened Google and typed in _'The Red Lotus'_ which made all kinds of info appear about them, though most of it came from a cartoon that ran in this reality.

"Neat." Ghazan smirked as I opened a site called _' '_ and accessed my account as Zaheer got behind me and P'li got in the seat next to me as they all looked at what I was doing with an interested look.

"That information about us is frighteningly correct. Whoever wrote this had a good source." Zaheer said with a smile on his face as I opened my private messages and searched out an old mail off my beta reader Paranoidgirl, using it to contact her.

 _Dear Paranoidgirl_

 _i have had the craziest adventure the past few months I was offline. But it gave me an idea for a story: 'The new Lotus' the story will be about my adventures in the Avatar world and how the Voortrix got back together at long last. I will soon send you the first chapter_

 _I hope you have been doing well, and that you're in good health_

 _From Femke-the-lotus_

I sent to her, then turned on a game and started to explain the rules of Solitaire.

"So these computers are used a lot in this dimension?" Zaheer asked as he had a go at Solitaire.

"Yes, a lot of people in our world have one. Kind of like radios in yours." I said as he managed to get the last card from the stack, which meant he only needed to clear the last turned cards to win the game.

"Nice. Much better than phones." Ghazan said, I nodded and just as I wanted to give a reply we heard a groan coming from the bench.

"Ming is waking up." P'li said as she sat down with Ming and placed a hand on her forehead.

 **Ming Hua's POV**

"What happened?" I groaned as I woke up, looking slightly annoyed at all my friends, who were worried, which turned into relief when they saw I was awake.

"Are you okay, Ming?" Femke asked worriedly as she sat down by my side and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Great. Besides all the falling I did." I snapped, still annoyed at their worries. They should know I wasn't going to get killed by passing out.

"You've been out for quite a while, Ming. Also we heard you mumble in your sleep. About not being weak. That's why everyone is worried." Zaheer said, which earned him a foul glare From femke, which was something i was very thankful for.. I hadn't intended to say that out loud at all. My subconscious must have done that.

"I just had another one of those nightmares about my parents horrible training. Nothing special." I said cooly, hiding how much it had affected me. Not wanting to show weakness.

"Ming. It's okay to say if something affected you." Femke said after a short but tense silence as she sat down next to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"I know. It's just that…" I started but stopped as I heard a loud banging on the door, and after that a commotion in the hallway. Femke scooted closer to me and P'li as a dozen White Lotus members ran into the living room and surrounded us.

 **"You're surrounded, Zaheer! It's over."** One of the men called, which made Femke tear up and shake her head, before she got up from the bench and spread her arms wide.

"If you want to get Zaheer, you have to get through me first." Femke said boldly as she looked at the men firmly.

"Through us as well." P'li said as she and Ghazan got before Zaheer as well, who looked at us with a thankful smile.

"Thanks, everyone." Zaheer smiled as he looked at us gratefully.

"How did you even get here?" Femke asked as she looked at the men surrounding them with a stern look, suddenly realizing they had closed the portal after them, which meant there was no way they would have been able to follow us, or track us down.

"A helpful warrior from your world with the glowing wings told us he knew we wanted to arrest the dangerous outlaw Zaheer and he told us he knew where we could find them." One of the man said as he stepped aside to reveal the Paladin, whom smirked before he bowed his head.

"I'm just doing my duty. Having a criminal flee from Justice in another dimension is something I cannot allow." He said, before heading to the door. "I will be outside at the portal. Go ahead and do your duty."

 _"Avalon? Why would he help the enemy? He knows I am here to gather all the Voortrix and save humanity. Right?"_ I heard Femke mutter as she looked after this Avalon with a shocked look as he disappeared. _"It can't be the real Avalon It has to be that other Avalon. How is that possible?"_

"That man is working for the real enemy; Lord Darkar." Femke said firmly as she pointed to where the stranger disappeared. "He wants us out of his way so we can't save humanity." Femke said firmly as she looked at them with a scowl on her face.

"And here I thought you all changed for the better." A voice said as the group of White Lotus man split and saluted as Tenzin and President Raikou walked to our group, looking rather angry.

"We have, Tenzin. Zaheer wants to quite the Red Lotus as well. Right?" Femke asked the last part as she looked at our leader with a questioning look, who nodded in reply as he kept himself behind Femke.

"See, we all want to turn over a new leaf. We changed. Xai Bau busted Zaheer out, he appeared on our doorstep this morning out of nowhere." Femke said with a firm look, though this was a lie, we all took part in his escape. We only weren't visibly there when Zaheer was busted out.

"It's true they weren't there when Zaheer was busted out only the two older people and the three girls were." One of the men confirmed, which made Tenzin pluck his beard in a pondering way.

"And why didn't you send him back to jail to sit out his punishment if you're, as you claim, _**changed**_?" President Raikou asked with a firm glare as he got next to Tenzin and looked at Femke before he casted us a glare, not trusting us at all.

"Because he is a _**Voortrix**_ , Raikou. He is one of us. We need him in order to save the world." Femke said firmly, as she looked at Xai Bau, who nodded and walked past the man in the middle of the circle, which made the the man that had most likely been there when they came to free Zaheer flinch away in a scared way, knowing what he is capable of.

"Listen, they're speaking the truth. I was the one that freed Zaheer and brought him here." Xai Bau said as he placed a hand on his heart to show how honest he was. "And although I might have lied to come close to that goal and threatened a innocent life, it was only because I knew they wouldn't let him out if I just asked politely." Xai Bau said, at which we all nodded. Knowing they had just arrested us if we had come to ask it politely. Because we were still criminals.

"That didn't meant you had to threaten an innocent life to have a known murderer escape his punishment." Raikou said firmly.

"They almost arrested us. We had no other choice." Selvia said out of nowhere, making us all look at the doorway in a surprised way, since I hadn't heard the girl speak to much in the short time we knew her.

"So that means threatening an innocent life is suddenly allowed? But then again, you've helped a known murderer escape. I should not be surprised to see your morals being so terrible." Raikou asked the Vootrix fairy girl as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No. Threatening innocent lives is never justified but if you only have mere seconds to think and act to save yourself, what other options would you be able to come up with?" Selvia asked calmly as she walked past the older man towards us and hugged Femke and me.

"I would have ran. Used my Earthbending like the way you escaped. Not tried to break out a murderer in the first place." Raikou said firmly, making us all look down.

"None of us said we wanted to justify what we did. The six of us knew what we started and we knew it was dangerous. Maybe even that is was foolish." Selvia said as she looked firmly at Xai Bau, who looked like he wanted to make a comment about this. "But like Femke said; we need Zaheer's help in order to take out the darkness that is threatening our world. So please let him stay with us." Selvia pleaded as she looked at Zaheer with a small smile, who smiled back at her in a thankful way.

 _"This is the biggest speech she has ever given. I'm impressed."_ I heard Femke whisper to Ilena, who nodded.

 _"Me to, she never speaks this many words a day."_ Ilena smirked as she and Dizzana shared a small hug.

"No. We just can't seem to trust any of you. How can we be sure he won't commit any murders again if we would let them go free?" Raikou questioned as he raised his hand, after which guards surrounded us, I saw Femke close her eyes.

"Then I'm sorry but we won't let you take our friend away from us. We won't go through that suffering again." Femke said harshly as she now looked at her friends, who nodded and in a flash everyone had gathered around, just as Anna entered the living room with her groceries.

"Mom, I will be out again. I won't know when or how I will get back." Femke said as she turned to her and the group gathered around and took hands and shoulders as fast as we could.

"Just be careful." Anna smiled as she send a blew kiss to her adoptive daughter who did the same.

 _ **"If Grovyle comes back, punch him for me, okay?"**_ Femke called, right before we warped away somewhere. In a flash I saw the White Lotus guards moved to try and stop us, but they were too late.

 **Normal POV**

A moment later the group appeared on the place they had first met Femke, which had been the first place that had popped in the mind of the brunette after that emergency escape.

 _"We're here. We're back."_ Zaheer muttered as he looked at the cave with an awestruck look before he turned to Femke who looked at the cave with a smile on her face.

"Why this place?" Zaheer asked her as he looked from Femke to the cave, unable to believe they were standing before the very place they had met after such a long time in which so many things happened.

"Because It was a relatively safe place the last time and it holds some good memories which made it the first place I thought of when we had to make that emergency escape." Femke explained as Ilena and Dizanna went into the cave to look around.

"How come your names are scratched into the back wall?" Ilena asked as she came out of the cave together with Selvia who went into the woods and got her wooden trunk bag after which she started to chop firewood with the hand made axe.

"That's because we have been here before, and we did that to leave behind a memory." Femke called back with a smile on her face as she got her own trunk and got out firestones to start a campfire.

"Cool." Ilena smiled as she and Selvia brought the firewood to Femke, who had made a big circle of stones she got from the riverbank, placing the firewood in the middle in a neat order, so Femke could start a fire with some dry leaves.

"I found some edible plants and fruits, since I don't think a trip to a village would end well." Zaheer smiled as he and Xai Bau brought the fruits and plants they had found to Femke, who smiled at it.

"These will do fine." Femke smiled as she used her Earthbending to make a cooking pot and put everything in.

"Could someone check if we have any oak root nearby?" Femke asked after a while, at which Selvia got some from her trunk, handing it to her.

"Kept some just in case." She smiled as Femke put some in the food, then smelled it.

"Anyone a vegetarian here?" Ilena called as she and Dizanna came back back with a shot animal over their shoulder. No one replied or put up their hand, which caused the girls to disappear somewhere to skin the animal, bringing the meat to Femke a moment later.

 **Zaheer's POV**

A few hours later everyone sat around the campfire, eating the stew Femke had made, which tasted better than I had expected. Femke was an excellent cook. Though I had already known that from the first time we had been sitting around the campfire.

 _'She's a very special woman. And beautiful.'_ I thought, shaking my head fiercely when I caught myself. I couldn't think that about Femke. She was just a friend and we both just got out of a relationship.

 _'But Earthly Tethers can come back and ten times stronger than before in the form of new love.'_ The voice of my master called in my head as I heard my friends laugh and talk in the distance while I looked at Femke, who was just then laughing at one of Ghazan's jokes and as I looked at her I felt my heartbeat increase as a light started beaming around her.

 _'She is so beautiful and her laugh sounds so sweet. Too bad she might never fall for someone like me.'_ I thought, knowing that telling her how I felt would most likely end in a fight between her and P'li or between P'li and me, which was the last thing I wanted.

"You okay, Heer? You have been awfully silent." Femke asked out of nowhere as she placed a hand on my knee.

"I was just thinking." I replied quickly, which earned me a surprised look from everyone.

"You were staring at Femke all the time." Ghazan replied. "Admit it, you were thinking about her." He continued.

"Not at all." I said, as I felt a blush in my cheeks. "I was thinking that now we're on the run again, we could start with Voortrix training." I quickly made up, not wanting to admit i was indeed thinking about Femke.

"I don't know. You're only one day out of jail. You sure you're up for it?" Femke asked worriedly, which made me smile. She was such a caring woman.

"I will be fine as long as we start calmly." I smiled as I got up and stretched. It was a beautiful sunset. Already late though I wasn't tired yet since I just had dinner.

"We'll start after the dishes." Femke smiled as she got up and gathered the dishes, then walked to the river to wash them up.

"No, you go ahead. We'll do the dishes." Ilena said as she took the dishes over with a smile on her face, at which Selvia and Dizanna nodded.

"Okay. Thanks, girls." Femke smiled as she gave her friends a hug, then took me, P'li and Ghazan to the riverside were Femke sat down and gently made a ball of water.

"Okay, so, I have never been a teacher before but water is a relatively easy element. It's a bit like air, it's all about calm sustained movements and concentration." Femke said as she moved the ball of water to me, making it spread my hands hand focusing the same way I would when I am airbending but as Femke let the ball of water go, so I could take it over, it splashed down on P'li, who was sitting in the middle.

"Well, that's a nice sign of things to come." P'li grumbled as she squeezed the water out of her hair, looking at me quite annoyed.

"Sorry. Like I said, waterbending is harder than it seems." I said as I sat down next to them and moved my hand above the water, hoping any reaction would come, but it didn't.

"It's okay Heer, with us the elements don't always follow a sequence." Femke said as she looked at me calmly. "With us it is mostly the elements closest to out personality" Femke explained, just as Ming Hua walked to us and grumbled something about wanting to wash up, before she disappeared from sight.

 _'Ming doesn't seems too happy about having to learn all the other elements._ ' I thought as I watched her use her waterbending to keep her head above the water as she swam towards a hidden spot where she could wash up.

"Hey, Ming, I could use some help with teaching here." Femke called with a smile as Ghazan failed as well.

 **"No."** Ming Hua replied from behind the stone as she kept herself hidden.

"Hey Ming, I have been thinking and I think there is a solution for the missing limbs problem." Femke tried as she changed into her swimsuit with her magic, then swam to where Ming Hua was currently sitting.

"I don't see it as a problem. I never had problems going without them." Ming said coldly, hinting to me she was offended by what Femke said.

"I didn't mean it like that but for learning the other elements and using the bicycle…. Doesn't it sort of cause problems?" Femke asked calmly as she sat down close to Ming Hua's hiding place.

"Maybe a little and I know you still think it is our destiny to save humanity and all but I am just not fit to be a hero, it seems." Ming said, after which Femke swam to the other side of the rock and disappeared from sight, but from the sounds I heard Femke got out of the water someplace behind the rock, most likely next to Ming Hua to hug her.

 **Femke's POV**

"I believe we are. All of us, Ming. I never said it was going to be easy but that doesn't matter. No matter how hard things will get or how tough or pointless our fight will seem to get, you guys will always have me. I will always be here to help you." I said as I held Ming Hua close in my arms. The older woman smiled in my arms as she lightly hugged me back.

"Thanks femke. I never saw my lack of limbs as a disadvantage but more as a part of who I was. Something that was always a part of me so nothing to worry about, you know? But I want to hear what you have in mind." Ming smiled as she was seemingly feeling a lot better about herself.

"Well, prosthetics would be a outcome in this situation, you might be a little slower, but you will at least have the limbs necessary to bend and to learn how to use a bicycle." I said, as suddenly an image flashed through my mind of combustion man with his metal prosthetics, glowing in the moonlight at the night of his first attack, then again in the Air Temple where, I shuddered at the last thoughts. Not even wanting to finish it, since that memory still haunted my worst nightmares.

"You think I'd be able to use those?" Ming Hua asked me as she gave me a confused look, at which I nodded.

"Yeah, I remember combustion man had metal prosthetics as well." I said now as I showed a magic image I had made from Combustion Man, at which Ming Hua looked with interest.

"Looks great. Though I would only like to have legs again. I like to use my water arms more." Ming said as she waved with her water arms at me, which made me smile, knowing she liked to use her water arms a lot.

"You know, in Magix they have magic prosthetics you can remove by waving your hand. If you want we can get both arms and legs. In case, you know, bending is harder than expected without." I smiled as I looked at her gently.

"Fine. Just don't expect me to ever use the arms." Ming smiled as she hugged me.

"I won't. And I will not push you to use them. You have to decide that for yourself." I said as I showed her both my hands to show her I was being honest with her.

"We better go to sleep now. It's getting late." I said as I looked at the setting sun with a smile on my face. It was a sight to behold, just like every evening and I was glad we were traveling again. This way I could at least see the sun set and rise every day and hear the wind play with the leaves. The way I liked it best.

"Sounds like a good idea to me, maybe we pick things up better after a good night's rest." Zaheer said as he yawned and stretched, which made all bones in his body crack a little. A moment later everyone was in their sleeping bag as I went to my sleeping bag last.

 _'This isn't the best time to be on the run but I'm sure we will manage to settle somewhere soon enough where we will be able to both keep ourselves warm and safe during nights and were we can train.'_ I thought as I laid down in my own sleeping bag, smiling as I watched everyone sleep. It was good to have the whole gang back together.

 _"If Noatak and Tarrlok were here the team would be complete. Then this moment had been perfect."_ I thought as I let my mind slowly drift off to sleep after that, smiling as I first had a beautiful dream of my brothers returning to me after being freed from jail by Toph and somehow finding us but the dream turned dark after that, and suddenly I was back in the Air temple, back with Aang and his friends.

 _0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000dream  
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 _I saw a wide overhead shot of the fountain. I looked at my side and suddenly saw Combustion Man, standing right next to me on a ledge high above Team Avatar. I was standing next to him and could clearly see the look on his face as he looked down and narrowed his eyes at the sight of Aang bringing a towel over to katara who then helped Toph out of the water. I smiled when I saw this, since I still dearly missed my friends. I looked to my side and gasped In shock as I saw Combustion Man inhaled, preparing to Combustion Bend, but right before he could do so Zuko swung towards him and bumped into him, making his blast hit the ledge above fountain instead of Team Avatar. Katara and Toph shielded the group from harm then Sokka picked up Toph and carried her to a safe place as I saw Zuko get up and call out to Combustion Man._

 _ **"Stop!**_ __ _ **I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore!"**_ _A command combustion man just ignored as he looked at Aang helping Sokka to carry Toph to a safe place while Katara and I glanced up at Combustion Man and Zuko, ready for a attack, which didn't happened as I saw Zuko got in front of Combustion Man with his arms spread wide in order to try and stop the man from attacking._

 _ **"The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!"**_ _Zuko called once again but Combustion Man just shoved him to the side and used his Combustion Bending again, this time hitting and destroying the fountain. I saw my other self and the others crouch down behind a ledge and cover themselves up to protect themselves from the blast. As I did the same I suddenly found myself in the place of my other self, covering myself up as I tried to shield myself from the incoming blast._

 _ **"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!"**_ _I heard Zuko call and as my vision went around the pillar and up on the ledge, I saw Zuko tried to attack Combustion Man with a fireball, which he blocked with ease, making it hit the ground._

 _ **"All right, I'll pay you double to stop!"**_ _Zuko called as he swung his hands around in an effort to try and struck him again, but Combustion Man easily brushed him to the side and attacked again. After that he turned around and faced Zuko. I saw a blast coming from the older man's face, which Zuko tried to block by encasing himself in a fireball, like Azula had done before as well and in an instant there was smoke everywhere. When the smoke cleared Zuko was gone._

 _"_ _ **Zuko, no!"**_ _I heard myself call as Aang bended a giant tornado at Combustion man. I felt another switch and I was above the fight all of a sudden, looking at things happening from above. How Combustion Man easily swung himself of the ledge to dodge Aang's attack, landing on another ledge, before he fired another attack, we all managed to evade the attack after which Katara made a huge wave, she let out a battle cry as she turned it into a thousand icicles which she fired at Combustion Man, who blocked them with his metal prosthetics. He looked away when this happened, which gave us a moment to hide._

 _"Now what?" I heard my other self ask the team as Combustion blasts started to hit all around the Air Temple now._

 _"I don't know mom, but he is going to blast the temple right of the cliffside if we don't act soon!" Toph said as her voice sounded panicked._

 _"I can't step out to waterbend at him without getting blown up" Katara said as she looked around the corner just as another Combustion blast hit near us. "And I can't get a good enough angle at him from down here." She said as she looked at the rest of her team mates seriously._

 _"I could try and give you a reading on him. Can you get any water to here?" I heard my other self ask as another blast hit the fountain._

 _"No need, I know how to get a good angle on him." Sokka said as his face lighted up with an idea. He quickly looked around, looking like he was making some calculations in his head as he pointed his boomerang out before him._

 _"Whatever you're going to do, make it quick! We won't hold this position for much longer." I said as more blasts hit all over the place, signing Combustion Man was ready to blow us of the side of the cliff any second now. Sokka nodded and peeked around the corner some more, using his boomerang to make some calculations before he took a few steps back and made a move like he was going to throw his boomerang, giving it a sideways glance as he did so._

 _"Okay buddy, don't let me down now." He told the boomerang with a serious look, before he threw it, I looked around the pillar and saw that whatever Sokka had been calculating had been right, the boomerang swooped around the corner of a pillar and hit Combustion Man full in the face, causing the older man to topple over and fall._

 _ **"Yay boomerang!"**_ _Sokka cheered as he caught his boomerang happily as we all came out of our hiding spot. But our looks turned sour when we saw the knockout had been temporary. Soon Combustion Man got up again and looked rather pissed at getting hit._

 _ **"Aw boomerang."**_ _sokka whimpered as he looked down at his boomerang sadly, disappointed his plan had failed._

 _"You tried your best, Sokka, let's hide before he gets us." I called, trying to cheer him up al little as we ran to a safe place. But as we did my vision went up to where Combustion Man was. I saw the man dusted himself of, then inhaled to let out a Combustion Blast once again, but as he did I saw to my great horror how the blasts stayed very close to himself due to Sokka's hit, there was a large explosion and after that the metal arm of Combustion Man landed before my feet, at which I looked, horrified.  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000end of the dream 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_

 _ **"No!"**_ I screamed as I sat up straight in my sleeping bag, sweat was dripping all over my face as I did so and I felt my piyama was sticking to my body.

"Femke, what's wrong?" I heard zaheer call, as someone lit a candle.

"A nightmare. A horrible nightmare." I said as I held my head in my hands and looked down sadly. As I did so, I fell P'li sat down next to me and wrap her arms around me.

"About what, Femke?" she asked as she looked at me worriedly, most likely seeing I was feeling horrible about something right now, which I was. Combustion Man had died such a horrible death and I had just stood there and watch. I had done nothing to try and stop it from happening.

 _'Not that stopping sokka had done any good. We would have been blown to pieces but I should have tried to stop him. Keeping Death to a minimum. And poor Sokka wouldn't feel so guilty.'_ I thought as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes that was stinging there, then looked at P'li, who had the exact same power. P'li who had taught me to use the same power as well. Not just the same power as she has now but also the same power Combustion Man had back in the day.

"About what happened in the Western Air Temple many years ago." I sighed as I looked at the wall of the cave. "I dreamed about Combustion Man attacking us in the Western Airtemple and how Sokka accidentally…" I stammered, trying to get the words over my lips, but I didn't had the power to do so. It still gave me the chills.

"Saved all your lives." Ilena finished my line for me, which I was very thankful for, since I really hadn't been able to say it myself.

"Aang killed someone?" Ghazan commented with a lax smile as he sat up as well, earning a glare from P'li.

"No. Sokka threw the boomerang. But none of us knew that hitting his forehead was going to kill him back then." I said as I thought about this for a moment. Aang hadn't thrown the boomerang himself, nor had he ever made any move with the intention of killing Combustion Man, since that was all against his nature. But he hadn't stopped Sokka from throwing the boomerang, which eventually ended his life. Yet if sokka hadn't thrown it or if Aang had tried to stop him from doing so because he had known what would happen, we had all died there and then, and then the world had been lost.

"I never understood why he didn't stop when Lord Zuko tried to stop him." Zaheer said as he sat down next to me on his sleeping bag as well and looked at me sternly.

"Because he figured that whoever would manage to capture the Avatar would lie in the good graces of Ozai forever." I said, remembering Xin Fu had bragged how he would get a _'hefty price'_ for the Avatar, right before my little Toph kicked his butt.

"So, if he had managed to get Aang captured he could claim whatever reward he wanted by the Firelord. His own castle, His own holiday. Just called it and Ozai had done it for him. Nice. I would have done the same in his place." Ghazan smirked, which made Ming Hua slap him on the back of his head with one of her water tentacles firmly.

"How about respect? Not only could he have claimed whatever reward he wanted, he would have been the hero of the Fire Nation. The man that caught the Avatar and destroyed the only threat to the reign of the Phoenix King. I think that he might have wanted that respect the most." I said as I looked down. Combustion benders seemed to be feared. P'li had said that herself. If that had been the case back then, Combustion Man had most likely just wanted respect and what better way to earn respect then to capture the Avatar and be the hero of the Fire Nation. The one that brought down the Avatar and ensured the fire nation's victory.

"Femke, I know it only happened three years ago for you but why is what happened to Combustion Man still bothering you?" P'li asked as she hugged me, smiling a little as Zaheer and Ghazan closed in the hug as well.

"I don't know. It has been ever since it happened, always the same four weeks those dreams keep haunting me." I said as I looked at her and held out her arms, at which she shook her head, not wanting to get in the group hug.

"It could mean something if it always happens on the same time." Zaheer said as he pulled at his beard a little in a pondering way.

"Could be. But what?" I asked as I gave Zaheer a stern look, not getting what seeing a Death that happened eighty five years ago in our time could mean.

"I have no idea but Zaheer is right. Maybe Combustion Man's ghost is trying to tell me something. But what?" I pondered as I looked at my sleeping bag sternly. I suddenly heard a call, coming from outside.

 **"We're under attack!"** The voice of Ilena called, which made me look at her shocked, before I ran outside the cave were Ilena, Selvia, Dizanna and Tziza were fighting off a dozen of White Lotus guards while master xai bau tried to fight off another dozen near a portal, were Avalon from last time was standing.

 **Normal POV**

 **"Girls! Voortrix time!"** Femke exclaimed as she used her firebending to strike a few of the guards away then got next to Ilena, Dizanna and Selvia.

 **"Voortrix. Engage!"** All four girls yelled after which a blinding light covered the area, and when the White Lotus men looked up, they gasped at the four fairies that stood before them and blasted the Fake Avalon back into the portal, causing it to close.

 **"Electric Force!"** Femke called as she shot a bolt of lightning into a few guards, then got in front of Zaheer with a shield to protect him from an attack.

 **"Thanks!"** Zaheer called as he smiled at Femke, who waved with two fingers as a greeting then headed on in the fight, striking and kicking anyone in White Lotus uniform who moved.

 **"Ilena, what were you doing outside?"** Femke yelled at Ilena as both girls were fighting the White Lotus, though their opponents slowly got the upper hand.

 **"Mister Xai Bau, Miss Tziza, the girls and I figured we best got on watch, since none of us managed to go to sleep."** Ilena called back as both girls got pushed into a corner, soon followed by the rest of the group.

 **"Good plan."** Femke beamed at her as she tried to kick away the White Lotus guards, which resulted in her getting slammed into a tree trunk, soon followed by Zaheer.

 _"They blocked my Chi. I can't bend."_ Zaheer groaned as he got up and looked at Femke who lied half knocked out on the ground.

"When did they get so good at fighting?" Ghazan commented as he was pushed further back into the corner as well.

 _"Seems Dark Avalon gave them an upgrade with his powers."_ Femke groaned as she tried to get up, but failed utterly, too weak to go on.

"Upgraded or not, I won't give up." Zaheer said firmly as he got before his team and spread his arms wide to protect them.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"What were you planning on doing?" One of the Guards asked as I got in front of my allies in order to shield them from anymore harm.

"You've been Chi blocked. I doubt you can take us all on." The man said as they brought a chain towards me, at which I looked nervously, knowing they meant hell.

 _'No. My friends need me. Femke needs me.'_ I thought as I looked at Femke, who was groaning as she was still struggling to get up.

 _'Femke said I am needed to help save the world. They need me. She needs me. I can't give up._ _ **I won't give up!**_ _'_ I exclaimed the last part as I moved my hand to strike the man, who backed away scared as a ball of fire landed before their feet.

 _"Fire?"_ i mumbled as I looked at my hands, unable to comprehend what had just happened. the White Lotus man also looked at me with a gasp. It was impossible for others then the Avatar to bend more than one element but I was no ordinary human from the Avatar world. I am a Voortrix fairy. Though I did wonder how it could be I bended fire instead of water, which would be next in the cycle.

 _"It's okay, Heer. With us the elements don't always follow the cycle unlike the Avatar, who has to follow it."_ Femke's voice rang in my head as I saw us all sit by the water side again for our first waterbending lesson.

 _ **"Of course! The element closest to my personality will appear first!"**_ A voice rang in my head as a smirk crossed my lips before I started to use my firebending to attack the Guards.

 **"Good going, Zaheer!"** Femke called behind me as she got up and used her own firebending to drive the shocked men away from us before she went over to water, earth, fire again and then air. As she did so I saw a colorful beam started gathering around her, and after bending all four elements she released the beam, causing all man to get knocked out.

 **"Power of Voortrix!"** She called as she released the beam. I smiled when I saw this. she was a powerful bender.

 _'After I manage to get the last two elements down I will be able to do the same. We share the same power.'_ I thought as I smiled at Femke as we both took out as many White Lotus guards as we could, then we all got together and before they could do anything we disappeared by Femke's teleportation powers. We were on the run again and spirits let it end better than last time.

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And with that I end the ninth chapter of my story! I hope you all liked it.

 **A/N:**

paranoidgirl is in the story now! I thought it would be a nice idea if Femke there also started to write down her adventures, so people can read about their adventures and what really happened later on and since this is their story I thought it would be fun to use our two writers names in the story as well.

paranoidgirl brought up the idea to let Darkar send Dark Avalon to help the White Lotus get to zaheer, since there was no other way they would have been able to travel between worlds.

I got inspired by Legend of Korra season One when I wrote the scene where Zaheer got his firebending out of the blue because he was determined to save his friends.

Keep the Western Air Temple scene with Combustion Man's death firmly in mind. It's going to play a role in the story.

That was all for now! Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader and advisor!

 **Don't forget to review!**


	10. Chapter 10: into the magix demension

Chapter 10: Into the Magic Dimension

 **Normal POV**

There was a flash of light and a moment later the Red Lotus crew and the four Voortrix fairies were standing in the plaza of Magix City, making the six Red Lotus members look around curiously, knowing they were in Magix City for the very first time in their lives.

"So this is Magix, the dimension of the fairies." Ghazan said as he looked up. "Seems pretty normal to me." He commented as he took a step of the sidewalk, jumping back on as one of the floating cars almost hit him.

"Huh. The Sato mobiles here can float." He beamed as he looked after the floating car. "Imagine driving one of those in a chase." He smirked as he looked at Zaheer, who smiled back in return.

"That would be quite nice. Is it magic that makes them float?" Zaheer asked as he came to stand next to Femke and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"No, it's another form of technology in this world. Though magic is used in daily lives here." Femke said as she pointed into a clothing shop were a woman with bright green and pink hair was using her magic to hold up multiple items for sewing a dress as she helped a customer.

"Nice." Ghazan said as he looked around to see fairies, witches, specialists and creatures of all different kinds and worlds walked through the streets, living their daily lives.

"Why are we here?" Ming Hua asked as she looked around as well, impressed though she didn't show it as much.

"We're going to get you those prosthetics and I want to speak to Avalon, who works on the Alfea school for fairies, to ask him if he was the one that helped the White Lotus." Femke said as she led to a shop she had seen once while she was exploring the city, whom were selling magical prosthetics.

"You know I've wanted to see this from the moment she told us about it." Ghazan said as he looked around with a smile on his face.

"I expected it a bit more like in the fairytales my sister read to me as a kid. Shrines at every corner, spirits and dragons flying around everywhere." He said as he frowned a little, not seeing anything of the things his sister had always read him about in her fairytale books.

"Those are just stories. This is the real deal. There is magic everywhere around you. Though you might not always see it." Femke explained as she moved her arms in the air with a smile on her place.

 _'Magic is quite awesome. They will never hear me say it. I won't bear the end of that if I did.'_ Ming Hua thought as the group went into a shop now. Zaheer and the men waited outside as the women went in. A moment later Ming came out with her new metal arms and legs.

"Looks great, Ming." Ghazan said.

"Let's go see Professor Avalon now. He should be at the Alfea." Femke said.

"Are we going with one those floating…?" Ghazan started to ask, but stopped as something flew into his face with great speed, making him almost lose balance.

 _"What the spirits was_ _ **that?**_ _"_ Ghazan murmured as he pulled the thing from his face, that shook its head and looked at him with stars in his eyes.

"My head." Floxy the elf said with a dizzy look as he shook his head firmly, then looked around, smiling when his eyes fell on Femke.

 _ **"You're back!"**_ He beamed as he hugged Femke, who beamed back at him as she hugged when she saw who it was that had bumped into Ghazan. Her bound elf; Floxy.

 **Femke's POV**

" _ **Floxy!**_ I'm so glad to see you again, how have you been?" I asked happily, smirking a little on the inside as I saw the surprised looks on the faces of my friends, whom had never seen a pixie or an elf before. _'Nor a fairy until they met me.'_ I thought as I gave floxy a gentle hug, careful not to squeeze him by accident.

"Things went on, can't say it was all good but I got my magic pop if you want to know." Floxy smirked as he showed me purple and green bal with the biggest smirk on his face I had ever seen from my bounded elf.

"Congratulations, since when are you a full Pixie who can earn his magic pop?" I asked him with a teasing smirk, remembering only full Pixies who had found their hidden talent and used it for something good earned their magic pops.

"Weird, right? Who knew my jokes would save the day?" Floxy smiled as he rubbed over the back of his neck with a smirk on his face.

"Not me. I always thought them to be rather annoying." I teased him as I ruffled the elf's hair.

"Femke?" Zaheer coughed as he looked at the small elf with a raised eyebrow, which made me realize I had been so busy with Floxy that I forgot my friends had never seen elfs, pixies and gnomes before. They probably assumed they were spirits.

"How silly of me. Everybody, this is my bound elf; Floxy, also a Voortrix member. Floxy, this is the rest of the Voortrix gang." I introduced the rest of the gang, which made Floxy wave at the rest of the group with a bright smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you, Floxy" P'li smiled as she waved at Floxy, who waved back at her.

"Nice tattoo." Floxy grinned, since he had never seen a Combustion Tattoo before.

"Thanks, I guess." P'li smiled sadly as she placed a hand on her forehead.

 **"Incoming!"** Ghazan yelled as he dodged, making that Zaheer crushed into the ground as five more of these little creatures bumped into them.

"Yucca!" I beamed when I saw my best friend from the elves village get up and look at Zaheer with a dazed look.

 _"Talk about an effective crushdown."_ She mumbled before she turned to me, her eyes beaming as she went to hug me.

"Femke! Where have you been?" She asked, sounding slightly mad at me for not visiting.

"I was in lockup in the Avatar dimension for many reasons. I'll tell about it later. How have you been?" I asked as I scooped up Yucca and gave her a hug as well.

"Bored. Life in the village has been boring since they sharpened the rules against the Elves again." Yuca huffed as she looked to the side angrily, I could clearly see it hurt her deep inside but she didn't want to show it because of her Elf nature.

 _'I wonder what happened that made the Pixies put up even more rules against the elves.'_ I thought as I looked at Yucca, who was looking at Zaheer with a smile on her face.

"Zedinia, it's you." She suddenly beamed as she jumped onto Zaheer's shoulder, who beamed as he catched her.

"Yunna?" Zaheer smiled as he hugged her back, making everyone except me look at them strangely.

"Zedinia? Yunna? What are those two talking about?" Ming Hua broke the silence as she looked from Zaheer and Yucca to me and Floxy.

"Zedinia is the name of Zaheer's past life and Yunna is the name of Yucca's past life. They're magically bonded. A bit like having a sister or brother." I explained as I looked at Zaheer and Yucca with a smile on my face, happy that Yucca found her bound Voortrix at long last.

"Awesome. Maxine will hate it though. Not that we see her much anymore." Yucca said with a huf.

"Why not?" I wanted to know now, as I looked at Yucca, shocked, fearing for my friend's wellbeing as she said this.

"She's married to that royal pain in the neck Prince Arsenio and lives in the Pixie neighborhood now." Yucca replied, sticking out her tongue, disgusted at the idea.

"Maxine captured the heart of a Pixie prince? What did i miss?" I asked gasping since the last time I had seen the gang they had been proud Elves and against any form of contact with the Pixies. For Maxine to be married to one now while she seemed to be very much in love with Rex before was a total shock to me.

"Well, it started out with a scam to get Arsenio's magic scepter." Yucca explained as we started to walk to the bus stop of the bus that would bring us to Alfea.

"Maxine pretended to be his new fiancëe, but we got beaten by those Pixies." Yucca said as her face dropped.

"Arsenio was heartbroken and wanted to leave Pixie Village, but Cherrie zapped his balloon. He had to stay in Pixie Village until his balloon was repaired." She was smirking as she told me about the balloon of Prince Arsenio getting zapped.

"Maxine was very confused at first but after some time she unfroze towards him and started to realize she was in love with him." Yucca finished explaining as the bus drove into the stop, and the doors open upwards to let out a stream of people.

"Floating bus. Neat." Ghazan smiled as he got in and took place while Femke payed for the trip then took a seat in the bus with P'li next to her.

 **P'li's POV**

 _ **"Nice!"**_ I beamed as the bus started driving, looking at the beautiful nature and all the magic beings as the bus drove quickly towards the next stop.

"Never boarded a bus before?" A young woman sitting behind us asked friendly as she looked from me to Femke with a small smile on her face, which made me blush in embarrassment. i had been so busy looking at the magic creatures and magic outside the bus that I must have looked like an overexcited child.

"This is the first time my friends came along with me to the Magic dimension." Femke said as she turned around and looked at the woman with a small smile.

"Miss Partillia, I hadn't even recognized you!" Femke beamed all of a sudden as she looked at the woman with the red hat, and the small face with a smile.

"It's good to see you again, Femke. I assume they're your Voortrix companions?" The woman asked as she looked from me to Ghazan and the others, who were smiling a little as they looked out of the window.

"Yes, they're my friends and fellow Voortrix members. Except for the older couple, they're friends of them." Femke smiled as she nodded to Xai Bau and Tziza who were bickering once again.

 _'Some things will never change.'_ I thought with a smile on my face as I placed my head against the window a little and looked outside again. The forest here was clean and beautiful and there were creatures of all kinds walking, crawling and buzzing around I had never dreamed would be real. This whole world looked like it was ripped right out of a children's fairytale book. _'Yet to be an_ _ **actual**_ _part of that world is a dream come true, Mogui wouldn't believe his eyes if he saw me like this.'_ I thought with a smile on my face, picturing the awestruck look in my head Mogui would have on his face if he were to see me like this. Which made me laugh out loud a bit.

"Having a chuckle, Li?" Femke asked me as she smiled at me.

"Just imaging what Mogui had looked if he could see me like this." I chuckled, which made Femke chuckle as well.

"Okay, that would have been awesome but we best get out of the bus now, we're here." Femke smiled as I got up and followed her out of the bus to an enormous pink building.

 **"Great!"** Gazan smiled as he walked next to Femke and me and looked at the big pink building were fairy students were walking around or sitting under a tree as they were looking in books, most likely containing homework.

"Seems like it's lunch break, during lunch were allowed to sit outside and make homework, Grizelda; the head of Discipline keeps an eye out and makes sure everyone gets inside again on time for the next class." Femke explained as she pointed to a very strict looking woman with blue rectangle glasses who looked at the students with narrowed eyes before she walked toward us.

"Miss Rekampmolk? What are we doing here?" She asked as she looked at Femke strictly.

"I came to see Professor Avalon and Miss Faragonda about a private matter, I will go see the Headmistress first since I think the Professor is teaching classes at the moment." Femke said calmly as she looked at miss Grizelda.

"Yes he is. I'll bring you to the office of the headmistress" She said before she walked out before us into the school and past some classrooms where some teenagers were sitting behind benches, calmly repeating a spell after their _teacher (A small guy with a large green hat that had to be a Spirit of some sort.)_ after which the teen's heads turned into pumpkins, which made me widen my eyes.

"Can you teach that to us too?" Ghazan asked Femke as he came to stand next to me and looked at the pumpkins with a smirk on his face.

"Sure." Femke smiled as she waved at the little man and made some hand signs before we walked on. "That's one of the first things you learn, meaning to learn how to channel their powers by concentrating on them. This is the second trick I learned here, the first was to change your hair color." Femke said with a grin on her face as she made a mirror appear before his face as we sat down and waited to be let in the office.

"Conjuring up items. Cool." Ghazan said as he looked into the mirror with a smirk on his face.

"It's just a simple spell." I said as i handed it to P'li now.

"Try and focus on any hairstyle or color you want. Picture it on yourself and keep concentrating or you might blow it and then the strangest things can happen." Femke smirked as she looked over my shoulder into the mirror as well and made a funny face at the mirror, after which her nose suddenly changed in the nose of a pig.

"Nice nose." Ghazan smirked at me while I giggled and looked at the mirror and concentrated on my own hairstyle only in pink now, wanting to add to the fun by changing my hair color but for some odd reason I didn't made it and a small explosion made that my hair puffed out to all sides.

"That's what happened to me the first time as well." Femke said as she shot me a grin and she pointed to me with her thumb behind her hand with a teasing look on her face.

 _ **"Shut up!"**_ I teased back as I gave her a playful push at which Femke acted like she toppled over and fell, looking up with a grin as Grizelda came out, sighing.

"You can go in now." She said as she pointed at the door with a strict look, making that I quickly helped Femke on her feet before we headed into the office where a kind looking lady was sitting behind a big wooden desk.

"Welcome back, Femke. I see you found your friends; the former Voortrix." The woman smiled as she gave us a friendly look.

"Thank you Miss Faragonda, I did, though a few of them had to stay behind in the Avatar world. Noatak and Tarrlok are in jail, I' m afraid." Femke said as she bowed her head in a sad way, I wrapped my arms around her for some support, something at which Femke smiled thankfully.

"That is very sad to hear. Darkar won't stay down for too long. We need the complete Voortrix clan assembled." Faragonda said as she gave Femke a worried look, who nodded in reply.

"About that. A few days ago around the afternoon the White Lotus Guards from the Avatar World came to arrest Zaheer, who is wanted as well. We were on Earth were we thought to be safe but they got help from someone who looked like Professor Avalon." Femke said as she looked at Faragonda with a frown on her face. Not because she was angry but because she was deep in thought.

"You think the our Avalon gave them entrance to Earth?" Miss Faragonda asked as she looked at Femke sternly.

"I just want to make absolutely sure." Femke replied as she took a seat and looked Miss Faragonda in the eyes.

"Miss Grizelda, please take over Professor Avalon's class for a moment. We need to speak to him." Miss Faragonda called to the strict looking lady, who immediately went to do as told.

 **Femke's POV**

Not too long after Miss Grizelda had went to fetch Professor Avalon, he came in the office, making the others take fighting positions. This seemed to scare Avalon as he backed into the door slightly.

"Everybody, this… " I said as I nodded to the Professor who still kept his distance from my friends. "Is the real Professor Avalon, our Advanced Spells Teacher" I said as the man sat down next to me in another chair, and gave me a confused and still somewhat scared look.

"Could you… could you please ask your friends to put their arms down?" He softly requested. "I-I'm still uneasy about people wanting to attack me thanks to…" He looked away. I knew what he was talking about, though. Darkar's imprisonment of him left quite some mental scars. And if he had nothing to do with it… he didn't deserve to be treated like this. I just looked at my friends as they relaxed.

"There was an Avalon at our home. A few days ago, who made that the White Lotus almost caught us." I explained with a stern look.

"He didn't had the red stripes on his face I remember Avalon's clone having. We don't know for sure which Avalon it was that let in the White Lotus." I said, remembering the Evil Avalon had red stripes on his face.

"And you thought it was me who aided them?" Avalon asked as he looked somewhat hurt and offended.

"No…!, I wouldn't do something like that." I said, feeling a bit sorry for incriminating him. "But I thought the Winx destroyed Dark Avalon during their last fight with Darkar." I said with a puzzled look on my face.

"He was. But it is possible Darkar revived him the same way he revived himself after that battle." Avalon said as he looked down.

"Then that other Avalon must have been the one that both helped them find us and gave those guys a power upgrade which caused them to be a threat." I said as I looked at my friends worriedly. "This is bad news."

"If Darkar has tricked and is helping the White Lotus, they will be able to follow us to any dimension. We will never be truly safe." Zaheer said as he looked at his bounded elf with a sad look, who looked back at him worriedly as well.

"We have to get as far away from humanity as possible then, they might hunt us down. That way at least no other innocent people get into this mess." Femke decided as she looked at her friends with a firm firmly as they nodded in agreement.

" _ **We will go with you!"**_ A voice called from behind us and when I looked up I saw Arsenio and Maxine standing behind us in the room along with some other elves under whom were Rex, Narcissa, Lenny and Sapphire, who was half elf.

"Finally believing us, I see." I joked as i looked specifically at Rex who had been the cause of me leaving the Elfs neighborhood because he refused to believe he was a Voortrix.

"Everything's better than staying in Pixie Village, the rules are choking me." Rex said as a few others behind him nodded as well.

"Don't worry Femke, that's his way of saying he believes he is a Voortrix now." Yucca told me from the shoulder of her bounded fairy with a smile on her face.

"Hey, I'm Sapphire Meave, nice to meet you." The small half elf smiled as she flew up and landed on the hand of P'li, who smiled in reply.

"Nice to meet you Sapphire, I'm P'li." P'li replied, and from the looks on their faces I saw they bonded.

"Hi, I'm Crossia." A punk looking elf smiled as she popped on Ghazan's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ghazan. Lavabender fairy." Ghazan said as he looked at his now bounded elf with a smile on his face.

"I"m Prince Arsenio, it seems were friends for live now." Arsenio smiled as he flew up at Ming Hua, who huffed reply.

"The name's Ming Hua." Ming Hua gruffed as she smiled a little bit at Arsenio.

"That was nicest smile I've seen from her in ages, that must have been magic." Ghazan smirked, which earned him a glare.

"It's magic bounding. It's a bit like a bond between family. Though for Zaheer and me it was already a familiar sensation since we have been bound before." I explained as I gave the elf on my shoulder a small tickle, who giggled in return.

"Same went for us when we first bound." Ilena smiled as Rex, Maxine and Lenny jumped on the shoulders of their own bound Fairies and smiled at them while Narcissa and three more new elfs looked around, confused.

"The others had to stay behind." I told the three remaining elves who now looked at me and nodded as I raised my eyebrow, seeing four elves were I knew there were only three Voortrix fairies left.

"Do I don't quite understand how there can be four of you while there is only three fairies left." I said as I looked at the three new elves standing with Narcissa, who looked at me but just as they wanted to reply a portal opened near the school.

 _"Not again."_ I gasped as I gathered everyone around me and took hands while Miss Faragonda stood up from where she was standing headed toward the Portal.

"Go, we will hold them off." She told me as all the Elves got around us, knowing better than to argue with her. I said a quick 'Thank you' and before the first White Lotus members reached the school grounds we had dissapeared.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you liked it!

 **A/N:**

 **Finally! Finally! Finally!** The gang went to the Magix dImension and on the advice of my beta paranoidgirl were a little in awe about all the magic they saw.

I thought it would be nice if the fairies would all meet their bounded elf or pixie now _(since Voortrix can bond with either a pixie or an elf because of their Voortrix flame)_ and I tried my best to make the elfs sound and act like they did in the series.

My Beta also told me it would be a good idea for the gang to go and see Avalon now, and I thought this would also be a good opportunity for Ming Hua to get her metal prosthetics. She also has metal arms, keep them in mind, I am not sure when she was use them, since she's quite good with her water arms.

Well that was all for now, I hope you all enjoyed it.

 **Please leave a review!**


	11. Chapter 11: the western air temple

Chapter 11: The Western Air Temple

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs that are included in this story. They're all owned by Disney. I only picked them because they fitted perfectly in the story.**_

 **Normal POV**

A flash of light appeared out of nowhere and suddenly the whole group was standing in a remote place in the woods, far from the cave they had been hiding in before.

"Are you okay, Femke?" dizanna asked worriedly as she looked at Femke, who had used all her energy to teleport the whole group out of Miss Faragonda's office and to this remote safe place.

"Yeah, I'm going to be fine." Femke said as she accepted a drink, then slowly rose to her feet and looked around. "You think they won't find us here?" The brunette asked as she looked around with a scared look in her eyes, her eyes glowing up yellow in the dark as she scanned the area for possible dangers.

"I think they won't, we will be fine here until the suns up. After that we go on." Ilena said as she climbed into a tree and sat down there "I will stand watch and wake you up in case something happens." She said as she looked out over the now peaceful woods while Dizanna and Selvia each chose a nearby tree.

" **We** will all stand watch. Get your rest. You will need all your strength again tomorrow" Dizanna said as she looked down at Femke with a small smile on her face which made Femke nod and just roll out her sleeping bag, none of them feeling the need to set up a camp for the few hours of rest they would take before moving on as they let themselves drift off to sleep.

 **Femke's POV**

The next morning we all rose with the sun, and despite the fact that everyone had slept less than normal, we were in a good mood and happily talking about all kinds of things as we traveled through the forest. Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia and I through the treetops as the rest followed on the ground.

 **"Catch!"** I called, smiling after a while as I threw some fruits I had found in the forest. Zaheer handily catched what I threw at him and handed the stuff out to the others, who looked at the food happily.

"Where did you get all this?" Xai Bau asked as he looked at some of the fruits with surprise since it was near winter and already getting quite cold outside. Despite that I had been able to find this in some nearby fruit trees people of the nearby wood Villages had forgotten to empty.

"From fruit trees nearby. They belong to the Wood Villages." I explained with a small smile on my face.

"That things like this still grow. It's well into winter." Xai Bau observed as he took a bite from the piece of fruit and cleaned his mouth with his shirt, which made Tziza prod him with her elbow. "Show some manners. You should set an example." Tziza told him, who shrugged in return.

"They're old and wise enough to know they shouldn't copy whatever I do." The man said with his mouth full, which earned him another prod.

"Also, we're elves, we always do that kind of stuff." Floxy added with a grin on his face as he copied Xai Bau, which made a gave him a stern look to tell him that was just disgusting.

"That doesn't mean you should behave like this." Tziza snapped, which made me giggle.

"Grouch." I heard both Floxy and Xai Bau mumble which made me chuckle, while Tziza gave Xai Bau another prod in his side. "Stop whining. Let's just focus on not getting caught." Tziza said firmly.

 _"It's just the truth."_ Xai Bau mumbled, at which Tziza gave him a firm look, before she turned back to me.

"Any idea where we are heading?" Tziza asked me as I got to the top of a tree and took a good look at my surroundings, suddenly realizing we were heading West and if the landscape hadn't changed to much we were close to the Western Air Temple.

"Right now we're near the Western Air Temple." I said as I came down and took a bite from one of the fruits myself.

"Is the temple still deserted?" Tziza asked, since she might have heard I have been in the position to ask these kinds of things, though it hadn't ever crossed my mind to ask if there were any Air Nomads living in the Western Temple right now, since I never wanted to go into the temple myself again.

"I haven't actually asked if the temple was used again. I think we should carefully investigate if there is anyone there." I replied as I sped through the trees after my friends who were already ahead of me. I saw the others looked at us with smiling faces as we traveled like this for quite some time, only stopping for quick rests when they were really needed. For the rest we stayed on the move for as long as possible to make the gap between us and our followers as big as possible. Every now and then I turned around and used my Earthbending to erase out tracks together with Ghazan. We stopped when the sun was fully gone to set up a quick camp and as some slept, others stood guard.

"You know, I actually kind of missed being on the run. This is life." Ghazan said as he lied down on his sleeping bag and looked at the stars above us with a smirk on his face. "The constellations followed us to this realm it seems. Nice of them to keep watch over us up there." Ghazan smirked as he pointed out the constellations, which looked indeed exact the same as on Earth now I looked closer.

"I have never been on the run before but you're right, this is quite fun." Crossia smiled as she looked at the stars as well. "I mean, look at those stars, they're exactly the same as at home in Pixie Village, how awesome is that?" She smirked as she and Ghazan high fived.

"Hey Femke, care to sing that song again? The one you sang right before Ming and Ghazan's lives, well, almost ended." P'li asked as she looked at me with a small smile on her face as she fed her bounded elf some of her food.

"Song? Did I miss something?" Zaheer asked as he looked away from the stars.

"Femke and the girls sang this song about outcasts and everyone being children of a god she believes in." P'li tried to explain.

"Femke likes to sing. Trust me. I know." Floxy grinned as he looked at me which made me smile, Floxy cared about me a lot, that was for sure.

"What kind of song did you sing, Femke?" Lenny asked as he stole some fruit from the plate of his bound Fairy fast as lightning, shooting him a devious smirk as he did so. "Did you make it up?"

"The song's called _'God help the outcasts'_. It's a song from the movie _'Hunchback of Notre Dame'_ on Eart. It's a movie about a boy who was deformed and was shunned because of his appearance and the lies the evil Judge Claude Frollo told him." I explained as I sat up and looked at my friends with a smile on my face.

"This evil man was hunting the Romani who were in his eyes helpers of the devil, in the song the Romani girl Esmeralda pleads for God to have mercy on them and help her and her people as well as all the other outcasts since their God's children as well." I smiled as I finished my explanation.

"That Frollo sounds like a real bastard." Ghazan commented. "He sounds awesome if you ask me." Rex commented with a smirk on his face.

"No he wasn't. He did what he thought was right but… that doesn't excuse what he did. Not to mention in the end he did all those things to get Esmeralda for himself." I said as I thought about the things Frollo had done during the movie, especially what he sang during his song _'Hellfire'_. He did what he thought was right, but in that forgot the true meaning of Christianity and Jesus Christ's Sacrifice.

"That sounds a lot like what we did. We did what we thought was right. Doing whatever we thought was necessary to get to that goal. But we went to far. Hurt innocent people. And in the end we were just…. selfish." Zaheer observed as he looked down with a pondering look.

"In a way. But you redeemed yourself by turning back before it was too late. Frollo fell from the Notre Dame and died." I said as I remembered that scene.

"I remember singing. So that was you." Ming Hua said, which made me look up at her, surprised since I hadn't expected she heard that.

"You heard me sing?" I asked surprised, which made both Ming Hua and Ghazan nod.

"We also heard you last words to us. Pretty melodramatic if you ask me." Ming Hua smirked as she gave me a small hug, which I returned happily since it wasn't usual for Ming Hua to hug people.

"I thought it was kinda nice. You're quite the singer." Ghazan said as he rubbed Ming Hua over her hair, who looked up at him, annoyed.

"I didn't said she couldn't sing. But those last words to us were quite melodramatic." Ming Hua snapped as she shot Ghazan a glare.

 _I don't know if You can hear me_

 _Or if You're even there_

 _I don't know if You would listen_

 _To a Gypsy's prayer_

I started singing softly before they would start fighting which made Ming Hua look up at me surprised, recognizing the song from when she had been in her dying moments, while Rex huffed and went to sit somewhere else, not wanting to be a part of this since he was still an Elf and it wasn't in the Elves' nature to like singing and things like that.

 _Yes, I know I'm just an outcast_

 _I shouldn't speak to you_

 _Still I see Your face and wonder_

 _Were You once an outcast too?_

"That's pretty rough." Ghazan commented, which made everyone else shush him.

 _"Just saying."_ Ghazan huffed as I ignored it and sang on.

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Hungry from birth_

 _Show them the mercy_

 _They don't find on earth_

 _God help my people_

 _We look to You still_

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Or nobody will_

 _I ask for wealth_

 _I ask for fame_

 _I ask for glory to shine on my name_

 _I ask for love I can possess_

 _I ask for God and His angels to bless me_

Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia and P'li now sang, P'li smiling a little as she joined in, since this must be the first time she sang.

 _I ask for nothing_

 _I can get by_

 _But I know so many_

 _Less lucky than I_

 _Please help my people_

 _The poor and downtrodden_

 _I thought we all were_

 _The children of God_

 _God help the outcasts_

 _Children of God_

I ended, which made everyone clap while I saw Tziza dab her eyes inconspicuously.

"Now that is over, we might get some sleep." Ming Hua said as she lied down, not at all liking it when I sang.

"Let's get some rest now. Tomorrow will be another busy day." I yawned as we all laid down for the night.

"Night, everyone." Floxy yawned as he crawled down next to me.

"Night!" everyone else replied before we quickly went to sleep.

Somewhere halfway through the night I shook awake from a strange sensation in the ground. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before I silently slipped in a tree and had a look around. There was nothing to be seen; all was quiet around us yet I felt the tremors in the earth. Like something was moving. Something huge.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" A voice called from behind me, causing me to slightly jump in shock, only to see Selvia was standing behind me rubbing out her eyes as she stood on the tree branch near me.

"Yes. It feels like something is moving. Something huge." I replied as I got a small knife from my pocket and stuck it in a tree to hear the tremors better.

"They sound like Mech Suits. A lot of them coming this way." I said after I listened for a while, then got up and ran to were my friends were sleeping.

 _ **"Guys, get up! We got to go!"**_ I nervously said as I shook them awake. P'li immediately sat up as I said this and looked at me, shocked.

"What's wrong?" She asked as I shook Ming Hua awake and Ghazan awake.

"You think they're coming for us?" Yucca asked as she and the other Elves used their magic to mess the area up to cover our tracks.

"We heard Mecha Suits coming this way. We got to go before they see us." I said as I tried to wake Zaheer up. The older man didn't. Of course.

"they are. I'll carry Zaheer." Xai Bau said as he lifted zaheer in his arms with ease, before we all started to run.

 _"Spirits, he is light as a feather."_ I heard Xai Bau mumble as we started running through the woods in no specific direction at all. As long as we got away from the Mecha Suits.

"Do you suppose they were from Kuvira's Army?" P'li asked as we ran, looking back every now and then to make sure we weren't being followed.

"I think so, that's why we need to get out of here." I said, Floxy on my shoulder holding on to my hair to keep himself there.

"Who is this Kuvira anyway?" Rex asked.

"Kuvira is the dictator that took charge after we took down the Earth Queen. She is even worse, though we aren't going to do anything about her since we claimed to have changed." I told Rex as we ran away from the army as fast as we could while we erased our tracks as well to avoid chasers to find us.

"She sounds like my type of person." Rex smirked.

"Not really, she is trouble. She does anything to get what she wants. Or at least that is what I heard." I said with a stern look. "Exactly like an Elf." Rex said, which made I rolled my eyes at him, even do it was the truth.

"If Kuvira had gotten her hands on us we would have been dead. Unlike when the White Lotus would have captured us." I said, still running.

"You suppose we lost them?" Ghazan asked after a long while of running.

"I don't feel anything anymore. We might be able to get some rest here." I puffed as I gulped down some water since I had gotten quite thirsty from the long running we had done.

"After a quick rest we better move on. I know we're all exhausted but we can't afford to rest with the sun up." Xai Bau said as he put Zaheer down and shook him awake.

 **"Zaheer! Wake up!"** Xai Bau yelled as he shook Zaheer awake, who had slept through two hours of running and fleeing from whatever had been after us until now.

 _"What? What's going on?"_ He asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes out.

"We have to get moving again. Were being followed." Xai Bau said as he helped Zaheer on his feet, who yawned and stretched.

"Nice going, letting us do all the hard work." Floxy joked, which made me chuckle a little.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Zaheer gruffed as he rubbed his eyes out.

"Because that would have taken too long. We had to get out of there fast." Xai Bau replied.

"When it comes to emergencies I can get up faster." Zaheer protested as we all started to walk again, not wanting to spend too much time in the same spot.

"As Guru Tziza said: once lazy. Always lazy." Tziza quipped as she came walking next to Zaheer, shooting a worried looking Xai Bau a stern glare to tell him that he shouldn't try and aid this behavior again.

"Where are we going? We can't stay on the run forever." Xai Bau asked while we walked a little slower now so everyone could catch their breath for a moment.

"I have no idea. But we have to find a place to rest soon, I'm exhausted." I huffed as I rubbed the sweat from my forehead before using my seismic sense to look around, smiling as I suddenly felt where we were.

"I think i found a place to hide. If it's empty." I said as I walked to the edge of the cliff and sensed down with my seismic sense to scan the area; deserted like it had been back then.

"Where?" Zaheer asked as he got next to me, stopping when he realized where we were.

"We don't see anything." The Elves stated as they looked around, confused, while Arsenio and Sapphire flew over the edge and looked down.

 **"Wow!"** Sapphire said as she looked back at the group with a smile on her face.

"There is an entire place down there." Arsenio said as I gasped at the it in awe, while Ghazan and the others came close and looked down as well.

"The western air temple." Ghazan said as he made a stairs with his earthbending so we could get down.

"This place is even more amazing then I remember it to be." Tziza said as I let out a yawn.

"It has something. I have to admit." Narcissa said.

"Femke is right. We should sleep first then get exploring." Ghazan said as he headed down. We all plopped down our luggage and sat down on our sleeping bags near what was left of the fountain.

"Good idea. Yeah, despite the history here it is quite the place." I replied. _'If only that whole thing with Combustion Man had never happened.'_ I thought as I lied down in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, soon falling in a deep sleep. I later wished i hadn't.  
 _000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Dream  
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 _I was in the same dream as before; in the middle of the fight between Combustion Man and Team Avatar but this time I was experiencing the whole battle from the perspective of Combustion Man and did I hear his thoughts ring through my head as the battle continued. Most of his thoughts were about the battle;_ _'now where did they go?_ _' or_ _'I need to focus'_ _but sometimes I heard thoughts that had nothing to do with the battle. Like the ones before his Death._

 _"Li... Lee... Oh sh-...!"_ _I heard his thoughts, right before I heard the explosion and right before I woke up I felt a hellish pain on my forehead.  
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000  
end of dream  
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I yelled hard as I placed my hands on my forehead and rubbed firmly over my it as I woke up. It was light outside and most of the others were already awake. Only P'li was still asleep in her sleeping bag and smiled while doing so.

 _'Thank goodness I didn't wake her up.'_ I thought as I sat up and rubbed out my eyes, gasping as I saw something strange. A transparent man was standing next to P'li, looking at her kindly as he bent down and stroked her over her hair with his one arm. His other arm and leg at the same side were missing.

 _'Why is he doing that?'_ I thought as I lied down again quickly and hid under my covers, peeking from under them, hoping he would turn around so I would be able to see his face. He didn't. The spirit disappeared again after a small moment, as P'li woke up.

 _'It must have been my imagination. Must have been.'_ I thought as I closed my eyes and tried to forget about the strange spirit I had seen as I let myself drift off to sleep again.

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And with that I end the tenth chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed reading it!

 **A/N:**

I thought it would be nice idea to let the team flee from place to place a little before reaching the Western Air temple, because the White Lotus members would be after them, trying to bring them to Justice.

The Mecha Suits they felt were on their way to Republic City for the final battle.

Keep the scene in mind with the strange spirit sitting by P'li. It is going to play a part in the next chapter.

Well, that was all for now. Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader!

 **Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12: The spirit of combustion man

Chapter 12: The Spirit of Combustion Man

 **Normal POV**

A few days later, early in the morning, Femke was meditating on the leftovers of the fountain as Zaheer approached her.

"Hello Femke. Want to train?" He asked as he got into the lotus position next to her when he saw something was bothering the normally so happy and disciplined brunette.

"What's wrong?" Zaheer asked his friend worriedly as he placed a hand on her knee, at which Femke snapped her head up and looked at Zaheer sadly.

"I keep having nightmares. Every time the same one. About the Death of Combustion Man." Femke said as she looked at her lap sadly.

"For how long?" Zaheer asked as he placed a hand on her arm and looked at her worriedly.

"A couple of nights. They got worse ever since we arrived in the temple." Femke said as she looked at Zaheer sadly. "I'm worried it means something again Heer. Just like last time." The brunette said, since this was the second time she kept dreaming about the same thing for a long time.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Since it is a dream of a past event it could be it is just this place that calls up this awful memory." Zaheer suggested as he looked worriedly at Femke, who looked down, thinking about this for a moment.

"There is something else. Have you ever been awake during these nights?" Femke asked, knowing how deep Zaheer sleeps.

"No. Why?" Zaheer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it might be a mind trick my head played on me after that nightmare but ever since were here I see a strange figure with one arm and one leg stand at P'li's side." Femke said as she looked seriously at the airbender. "A ghost." She said as she looked at the place the voices of her friends came from worriedly.

"And don't say it is because of a lack of sleep." Femke said with a firm look as Zaheer opened his mouth with a raised finger.

"I was going to say that but I want to believe you. Whose ghost? And why?" Zaheer questioned as he looked down.

"Maybe we should all stay up tonight while P'li sleeps. Maybe if we hide we can see his face and what he wants." Femke suggested as she got up and held out her hand towards Zaheer.

"In the meantime I'm going to teach you how to control your firebending." She smiled, at which Zaheer smiled as well and took her hand, gently letting Femke help him on his feet as they walked to a good secluded spot surrounded by rocky walls, so they couldn't accidentally start a fire while practicing.

 **Femke's POV**

"Fire is the element of energy and power. You have to control it or you might hurt someone. Avatar Aang experienced this first hand." I explained as I got in a bending stance, which Zaheer imitated.

"I know that story. He burned Katara in his first attempt at firebending." Zaheer said as he closed his eyes and concentrated on his calm surroundings.

"After that he swore never to use firebending again since it only brought destruction until he met the Guru in the Eastern Air Temple." I smiled as I finished his line.

"In a way this is true. Fire brings destruction but it also brings light and warmth." I said as i made some gentle firebending poses now.

"Like every element, fire has a good and a bad side. They're all connected." Zaheer said as he followed my slow, controlled movements.

"Did you also ever hear the tale of Avatar Aang and lord zuko learning the Dance of the Dragon?" I asked with a smile on my lips. "From actual Dragons?" I smiled as I said this.

"I read something about it somewhere. Wasn't that in an Old Temple near this place?" Zaheer asked as we kick flipped then put out our hands like we were firebending.

"It's close but too far to go by foot, I'm afraid." I said since it would have been cool for all of us to see it and maybe learn a thing or two about firebending.

"Did you think about a friendly visit?" Zaheer asked me teasingly as we kept up moving.

"It might be a good learning experience." I replied, smiling as I started to use actual firebending for the more intricate moves, which Zaheer watched, smiling.

"True, but it's better we don't leave this place for now. They might notice us." Zaheer brought in as he tried to firebend as well, managing to make a small flame in his hand but no matter how hard he struggled it didn't get bigger.

"This is harder than I imagined." Zaheer muttered as he moved around the same way I did, trying to Firebend but all that came out were small flames.

"You'll get the hang of it. You just need time and practice." I said as I got in a bending stance and started with some basic moves again.

"You're probably right. I think I just expected it all to be just like when I first got my airbending. I understood it almost immediately." Zaheer admitted as he tried to follow my calm, slow movements.

"Well, you studied airbending all your life. You knew everything about it already. Fire is a complete new element you didn't study yet. You have to be patient." I said as I placed a hand on his arm and looked at him calmly, which made Zaheer nod with a smile.

"I'll try, it is just a little frustrating it doesn't work immediately like with air." Zaheer admitted as he rubbed some sweat from his brow and as he did so, I could swear I saw he lost his balance for one moment, recovering himself so fast that it might have been in my head.

 _'That's probably it. Zaheer isn't sick or would tell us if he was.'_ I thought as I went on with the training. Zaheer tried to keep up with me but he was having trouble with firebending training. Despite that I was very pleased with the result of the first training.

"We'll pick things up from here tomorrow. You did a good job for your first time." I said after a good hour of training.

"Thanks. You did well for a first time teacher." Zaheer smiled as he bowed to me in the traditional way, which made me smile a little, feeling it was really meant as a sign of respect this time.

 _'He has grown. I can clearly see he turned his back to the Red Lotus.'_ I thought as I looked at him smiling as we walked back to the group and got a towel from my bag to dry myself off.

 **Normal POV**

"Training?" Ghazan simply asked as Femke and Zaheer re-appeared after having been gone for quite some time, both looking sweaty and exhausted.

"My first firebending training. It was rough, but Femke is a good teacher." Zaheer smiled as he took a few sips from one of the water bottles the team had filled along the way.

"Femke is a good teacher." P'li smiled as she looked at Femke teasingly, who smiled back at her as she walked to her best female friend and ruffled her over her hair in an affectionate way, which made P'li fix it immediately.

"At least act your age." Ming Hua commented as she rolled her eyes at the two of them goofing around while they were on the run from authorities.

"Come on, Ming, even though we're wanted people on the run, we can still have a little fun from time to time." Femke smiled at Ming Hua, who rolled her eyes at them before she walked off.

"What's her problem?" Crossia asked Femke, who shrugged in return.

"She has always been like that. Don't worry, she will warm up to you once she gets the know you." Femke assured the young elf as she earthbent a small bowl, then waterbent a small portion of brew into her bowl.

"I wish I already had a second element. I wonder which one will be my next." P'li smiled as she beamed at Femke, who now looked at her, pondering.

"Judging by your character I would say water or air and if I have to give it a 50/50 chance I think air would most likely come out on top." Femke smiled as she said this, which made P'li wrinkle her nose in disgust.

"Air? Don't you have anything better?" She said teasingly, which made Zaheer almost choke on his water before he looked up quite offended.

"Hey!" He called, at which P'li shrugged.

"I just don't think I would ever be able to get the hang of those gates." P'li smiled as she rubbed the back of her neck. "And I am far from spiritual enough to ever meditate into the spirit world." she added.

"Even some well accomplished air benders can't meditate into the spirit world and going through the gates is a bit like dancing formally." Femke explained, smiling. "Only at a dance you keep your arms in and with airbending you spread them wide." Femke said as she showed her best friend a few steps of a formal dance, which mad the elves look at her in disgust.

"Then it will be a piece of cake." Arsenio said as he held out his hand for Maxine, who giggled and took it, before they danced a few steps before us.

"I don't know if you ever listened closely but we don't like that kind of formal shit." Ming Hua snapped as she looked to the side with an annoyed look.

"It's almost the same and I should know." Femke said as she crossed her arms. She was born into royalty; officially she was the Princess of a colony of descendants of the Voorfieldian people who managed to escape the destruction of their village and the massacre on their people, settling on a small island before the coast of England they called Sheffield. Only Zaheer knew about this.

"How do you know?" Ming Hua asked as she looked at Femke with a raised eyebrow, who now blushed a little in embarrassment, only now realizing she hadn't told her remaining friends about her identity as a Fairy Princess.

"Well, that is kind of a long story and I'm not sure how you all are going to take this but I'm a Princess. From birth." Femke carefully admitted as she squeezed one eye shut, waiting for the reactions.

"Right. And I'm the Earth Queen." Ming Hua snapped as she looked at Femke firmly, not believing her claims at all.

"She's speaking the truth, Ming. She was the Princes of Sheffield on Earth until she gave up her title for true love." Zaheer defended Femke.

"How do you know about this?" Ming Hua asked as he looked at Zaheer and shooting a glare at Femke, who nodded to confirm this.

"Because she told me before. Right after that platypus bear almost got me." Zaheer admitted now as he hung his head.

"Why didn't you told us before?" P'li asked, sounding rather hurt Zaheer had tried to keep this from them.

"Because she made me swear I wouldn't tell anyone." Zaheer said as he smiled a little at Femke, who smiled back at him thankfully as she nodded to confirm his words.

"I didn't know how you all would react on this. I'm sorry I kept it from you. I thought you might hate me if I would tell." Femke said as she looked at her friends sadly.

"Probably. Not to much on the royalty." Ghazan replied as he folded his arms behind his head with a grin on his face.

"It's understandable you didn't want to tell us. I just don't understand why you told Zaheer. He's our leader." P'li questioned as she looked at Femke with a cocked head.

"Because Zaheer entrusted me with a secret as well. It was only fair if I told a secret in return." Femke said, not saying what the secret was itself after Zaheer looked at her, wordlessly pleading not to tell, knowing it still could cause the others to start looking down on him.

"Wait a second. Zaheer. You never told them about your past?" Xai Bau asked with a shocked look, Zaheer shook his head with his head bowed.

"I couldn't do it. I don't want to be seen like that. That isn't the real me." Zaheer said as he looked to the side, hurt, which made Xai Bau walked to him and give him a hug.

"I'm sure it won't change anything to them. You are you. Rich or poor, they will respect the real you; the man that led them through thick and thin and almost got them killed while he was at it." Xai Bau said, grinning a little as he said the last part, looking at Femke afterwards, who nodded as well.

"Just as I'm sure no one will look down on Femke for her royal background. Though I can't believe a princess proved to be a Red Lotus member." Xai Bau spat the last part as he shot Femke a glare, who looked down sadly.

"No one will. But we can't just... forget you are." P'li smiled as she pulled Femke in a hug, who smiled as she returned the hug, glad her royal background didn't spoil their friendship. "What is it you were hiding, Zaheer?" P'li asked smiling as she looked up from hugging Femke.

"Zaheer is the son of the rich Batu family. Some of the richest people of the upper ring of Ba Sing Se." Xai Bau said, looking seriously from Zaheer to his friends, who looked at Zaheer, surprised.

"Your last name is Batu?" Ming Hua asked as she gave Zaheer a shocked look, feeling betrayed by their leader not telling this earlier.

"I heard the Batu family were the most rich and powerful people after the Bei Fong family." Ghazan said, which earned him a glare from Ming Hua.

"You were rich beyond your wildest dreams. Why did you give that all up?" P'li asked with a shocked look. She had been poor her whole life and couldn't see why Zaheer who had it all gave everything up to become a criminal like them.

"Because it didn't feel right. All this wealth…. Just because I was born at the right place at the right time. It was unfair. I wanted… I wanted to do something. But I wasn't allowed. Having to marry someone against my will and be chained to that life forever was the final straw and I left. Trying to make the world better."

"Sounds like you had your priorities in order." Ghazan said.

"Well, you at least had parents who cared about you. Not everyone can say that." Ming Hua said as she rolled her eyes at Zaheer, who nodded and looked down again, feeling slightly ashamed that he forgot all the others except Femke had no parents at all or had parents that didn't care about them one bit. He had lived a life of privilege.

"It was, but nothing is as bad as having no parents at all or parents who don't care about you at all." Zaheer admitted as he looked at his friends, who nodded in return.

 **Femke's POV**

With that out of the way, we went on with some training and after that I went into the forest with Xai Bau and Tziza to get some fruits and other supplies, not wanting to go into town because we all knew that if anyone were to recognize us, bad things would happen.

"You and Zaheer were gone for quite some time. Did you do more than training?" Xai Bau asked as we were walking through the forest, the older man on the ground while Tziza and I were plucking fruits up in the trees.

 **"Femke is in love!"** Floxy called teasingly as he flew above Femke and together with Sapphire picked an apple to put in the basket. "I thought I heard you were with someone called ' _Grovyle'_." Sapphire questioned as she gave Floxy a puzzled look.

"We broke up. And Zaheer and I just trained and disgusted a nightmare I keep having for a few nights now." I smiled as I climbed a little higher in the tree to get some more fruits.

"What kind of dream?" Xai Bau asked me as he held up the basket for me. "Dreams are awesome." Floxy grinned.

"Something that happened in the past and doesn't let go of me." I admitted as I leapt from one branch to the other with relative ease and threw down some more fruits into the basket.

"What did Zaheer have to say about it?" Xai Bau wanted to know.

"That I should try and meditate on it. He thinks it might be possible that Combustion Man, who I'm dreaming about, is trying to make something clear to me." I told him as I kept leaping through the trees and gather fruits.

"What do you mean?" Tziza asked me as she leapt after me.

"Because every time after that dream I see a ghost standing near P'li's sleeping bag, looking at her with a peaceful smile on his face and I can't help but feel it's Combustion Man." I now dared to say, even when I knew it might sound crazy. It was what I had seen.

"How come?" Xai Bau asked with an amused smirk.

"I've had dreams like this before. I foresaw the death of P'li, Ming Hua and Ghazan and managed to stop them." I said as I got down and showed Xai bau the big spiral shaped scar on my shoulder.

"Awesome, I have one looking like a upside down shoe on my back." Floxy smirked as he moved his shirt up so I could see it.

"Let me guess, angered a Pixie lady?" I teased him with a smirk on my face, which made Floxy blush in embarrassment before he nodded.

"I must admit the reason you got the scar is admirable but the way you say it happened before it really happen is doubtful. I mean, only the Avatar is known to be able to do that." Xai Bau said as he looked at Femke.

"It's a bit short minded of the oldtimer but it isn't something you hear too often." Tziza said as she shot Xai Bau a glare, who shrugged in return.

"Yet I have had it a few times already. Sometimes it came in handy, other times it was difficult to deal with. Like when I saw P'li die before my eyes in that dream." I said as I looked down sadly, remembering how horrible the dream P'li died in had been, something I managed to prevent.

"Maybe a little, Tziza, but you know it is a rare ability." Xai Bau protested as he looked firmly at Tziza, who shrugged in return. "Anyway, what are you going to do?" She asked as she gave me a stern look.

"I am going to make sure I can see his face clearly this evening and if he is who I thinks he is." I said as we walked back to the camp. "I'll try to contact him and see what he wants." I said as we went to prepare supper for everyone, after which we trained some more before headed to bed. Ming did great during training, thanks to her metal legs she was feeling a lot more confident about herself again. Soon after I fell asleep again that dream started again.

" _femke's dream'_

 _'There they are. This time there is no escaping.'_ _I heard Combustion Man think as he looked down the cliff at Team Avatar nursing a injured Toph._ _'Stand still Avatar, stand still.'_ _I heard him think as he followed Aang with his eyes. There was a flash and a bang and as I saw everyone scatter to take cover, I suddenly felt my body melt together with my dream and before I knew what was happening, I saw team Avatar from Combustion Man's point of view and even felt like I was him as the whole fight passed before my eyes._

 _'My family! Ah shi-...!'_ _I heard his last thoughts ring in my head, before a horrible pain rang through my forehead, causing me to scream in pain and terror as it it fell like my head was splitting to half, before my vision went black._

 _End of dream_

 **"No!"** I gasped as I shot up in my sleeping bag, looking around with a bewildered look as I did so, sighing in relieve when I saw I hadn't screamed out loud this time, I hadn't woken anyone up. _'They can use all the rest they can get.'_ I thought as I sat down at the side of the cliff and looked down with a frown on my face, remembering once again the day Combustion Man had died.

"Can't sleep?" Zaheer's voice called from behind me.

"No." I said as I looked down the cliff again, listening to the crickets play in the dark of the night.

"That nightmare?" Zaheer asked me as he looked down as well.

"Yeah. Even though it was self defense, I feel kinda sorry for the poor man. It must have been a painful death." I said as I saw images of the explosions near Combustion Man's face again before the whole tower he stood near collapsed into the cliff, now made even worse by that horrible pain in my head, which I still felt lightly.

"I wasn't there like you but from what I heard he indeed died a pretty gruesome Death." zaheer said as he placed a hand on my knee and looked at me with a small but painful smile.

"I know I should be relieve we survived and all but i can't help thinking; what if he left behind a family?" I suddenly spoke up, speaking out the biggest fear I have had ever since Combustion Man's death. Something I had never dared to utter before, not even to Aang, who was my best friend and fellow team member.

"For all we know he was a Combustion Bender who had a job as a very good bounty hunter. I don't think people like him have a family." Zaheer said sternly as he placed his hands on my hands, ignoring the fluttering feeling that rose in my chest I looked at him firmly. That seemed like a lousy excuse to me, especially since I know how much he loved P'li and that they wanted to stay together like a loving couple after their mission was done. Before the kiss happened.

"Why not? You and li thought about settling down, right?" I asked, not getting why he thought Combustion Man wouldn't be able to have a family since I knew Combustion Benders had feelings. Combustion Benders like P'li.

"Bounty Hunters usually don't have a family. Their job is just too risky. I read all about the fight in the Western Air Temple." Zaheer smiled as he showed me a book that seemed pretty old and used to me and had a picture in it of Combustion Man.

"He doesn't to me either but what if? What if we took a husband/father away from his family?" I said as tears formed in the corners of my eyes at the very thought.

"Maybe. We will never know. If we stopped to question if all of our opponents had family, we'd never get anything done. Even the Earth Queen had her Nephew. That said, there's no one left we could ask, I'm afraid and since we don't know his real name, it's impossible to check." Zaheer shrugged as he looked at me sadly.

"I know but despite that I wish there was a possibility to check this. I would like to apologize to those people for taking his life." I said as I looked at Zaheer sadly, whom in his turn looked down, pondering.

"Maybe we could ask Combustion Man himself. If this is the place he died, his spirit might have stayed here." Zaheer said as he kept looking down, pondering. "That is, if you're willing to face him." He said as he held his arms open for me. I hesitated for a moment, then took his hands.

 _'You can do it. Just take a deep breath and relax.'_ I thought to myself. On one hand I was excited to finally be able to get the answer to my question, but at the other hand I was nervous to call upon his spirit. Would he still be mad at me for what happened? What would he look like?

 _'The only way to find out is by trying to see if his spirit wants to react to our call.'_ I thought as i inhaled, then exhaled, trying to relax my body and mind after which we found ourselves standing in the Temple's hallways while everything around us had turned dark. Like we were ghosts.

"Are you alright?" Zaheer asked me as he came to stand next to me and looked around.

"Why are we here?" I asked as I looked around the hallway as well, that was until there was a bright flash and a man with only one arm and one leg stood before us, looking at us sternly.

 _"Combustion Man."_ I whispered as I got behind Zaheer since I got nervous from his presence.

 _"Actually, my name is Laniban."_ Zaheer translated slowly as he looked at Combustion Man using sign language. Something I had been able to understand as well if I had looked at him.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"Nice to meet you, Laniban. I heard a lot about you from Femke." I greeted Combustion Man after which I looked at Femke, who was trembling behind me.

 _'Combustion Man must have scared her pretty bad_ ' I thought as I gave her a reassuring smile, at which she returned a small smile but kept herself away from him.

 _"Why is your friend afraid of me?"_ Combustion Man asked as he shot Femke a confused look, unable to either understand why she was afraid of him or recognize her.

 _'I doubt it since she looks pretty much the same as she did back when he died.'_ I thought as I tried to sign to Femke to get out of her hiding place, at which she reacted by firmly shaking her head, not feeling sure enough about the man to come out yet.

"She was with the Avatar during the time you attacked the Air Temple. She saw you die." I simply explained at which Femke shot me a glare, not at all seeming to like me telling this.

 _"Is that all? They got the better of me. Comes with the job. I'm not mad."_ I translated out loud now, which made Femke look Combustion Man in the eye for the very first time.

"You're not?" She asked as a small smile crept on her face. Combustion Man now nodded and made a sign with his hand that meant _'peace'_ if i remembered correctly, which made Femke came to stand next to me at last and smiled at me thankfully for the help.

"There was something i would like to ask. Something else that bothered me ever since it happened. Did you leave anyone behind when you died?" Femke now dared to ask as she took my hand and gave it a small squeeze for support.

 _Why do you want to know?"_ Combustion Man asked as he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Because ever since you died I couldn't help but wonder if you maybe left loved ones behind. Loved ones that missed you since that day." Femke spoke up, a little more sure about herself now she knew Combustion Man held no grudge against her and her old friends.

 _"I had a wife and two kids. They should be grown up by now."_ Combustion Man told us _. "They know I'm dead, but maybe you could tell them it was an accident and that I died fast and painless."_ Combustion Man sign told us, but at this, Femke frowned.

"That would be a lie. I know you felt pain." She suddenly said which made me look up at her, not getting what she meant with it.

 _"How would you know?"_ Laniban asked as he looked at her with a frown, not getting what she meant with this either.

"In my dreams, I saw you. I saw how you fell at our hands." Femke said carefully as she gave me a nod, signing she had gotten the same nightmare as before.

"But last time I saw the battle from your point of view. I heard your thoughts through the whole battle." Femke said as she took a step towards Combustion Man.

"I also felt what you felt on that last moment. A pain that almost split my head apart. It was horrible." Femke said, bowing her head sadly as she placed a hand on her forehead.

 _"She had a vision of the past this time. More than that; it told her Combustion Man felt pain right before he went."_ Shot through my head as I instinctively placed a hand on the shoulder of the brunette, who looked up at me with a shocked look, before she smiled thankfully.

 _"That's quite the ability."_ Combustion Man signed, looking up as P'li mumbled in her sleep, smiling softly as he floated to her and tucked her in.

 _'She must have a nightmare again about her time under Mogui.'_ i thought as I saw how Femke came another step closer to Combustion Man and placed a hand on the forehead of her best friend.

"She's my best friend ever since we met." Femke told Combustion Man with a soft look on her face which made Lariban look up at her, shocked.

 _"You like this girl then? Despite the fact that we share the same powers?"_ He asked, which made femke nod.

"Yes. She's the one that taught me Combustion Bending as well. She's my teacher and best friend." Femke smiled as she looked at P'li.

 _"What about her parents?"_ Laniban asked, which made me gasp in shock, since no one except us had ever asked about P'li's parents.

 _'Why is he interested in that anyway? What does he have to do with anything?'_ I thought as a strange thought crossed my mind, which I shook off just as fast.

 _'That would be impossible. Even if what he says is true the chance that she belongs with that family as well is a stretch.'_ I thought as Femke told Combustion Man that P'li had no parents anymore, that they had sold her out for money, at which Combustion Man looked shocked.

 _"She doesn't know?"_ Laniban signed to us, looking to the side with a horrified expression, making me raise an eyebrow at him, not getting what he meant.

 _"Take P'li to the place it all started. There is something she needs to find."_ Combustion Man signed us before he looked at the rising sun, we had been talking for a long time.

"What does p"li need to find there?" Femke asked as she saw Combustion Man started to fade away.

 _"What she lost can be found where it all started."_ Combustion Man signed us before he disappeared as the sun fully rose from the horizon.

"What she lost can be found where it all started? What did he mean?" Femke repeated with a stern look, before she looked up at me like she suddenly thought of something.

"I think he meant her parents. She lost them when they sold her to Mogui. He wants us to go to Mogui's estate. Something might be there." Femke said as her eyes lit up with the idea that there might be a chance P'li's parents had been sorry for selling their daughter and wanted her back now.

 _'I highly doubt it after what P'li told me. They didn't even look back at her. They were happy to be rid of her.'_ I thought as I looked at Femke, who nodded at me before we both went back to our own bodies.

 **Femke's POV**

As soon as everyone was up for breakfast I told them about our meeting with Combustion Man and what he had told us.

"Combustion Man has children? I would love to meet them." Ghazan commented.

"Do you suppose they're Combustion Benders as well?" P'li asked, which made me blush a little, since I forgot to ask.

"He didn't mention that and I was a little afraid to ask." I admitted with a blush on my cheeks, which made P'li sight and look down.

"Please tell there's something you figured out." P'li asked, rather annoyed. Probably because we didn't inform her about things even when it was clear she was a big part of it.

"He said we had to go to where it all started for you. He probably meant there's a clue there." I said, trying to repeat his words. This only made P'li look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What does he mean with that? What does that have to do with his family?" P'li asked as she looked at me.

"He disappeared before I could ask but I think he wanted us to find your parents." I guessed.

"My parents?" P'li questioned, tearing up at the very idea.

"Maybe you two are related?" Ghazan tried as he shared a smile with Crossia.

" will find the answers if we go to the place it all started for P'li. Where is that place exactly?" I asked Zaheer as I turned to look at our leader.

"The village of Fu Jet." Zaheer said as he narrowed his eyes at me, smirking as he did so.

 **Normal POV**

As the Voortrix left the temple to get to Fu Jet, they didn't look back at the Temple. If they had, they would have seen Laniban stand on a small ledge that had an outlook over the forest and over the Voortrix leaving.

 _'Good luck P'li. I hope you will find your parents. My great granddaughter.'_ The man thought before he silently disappeared into nothing.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And with that I end my chapter. I hope you all liked it.

 **A/N:**

Zaheer now knows how to use a second element! But it won't be easy for him to master it. On advice from paranoid he will have some struggles with his new element.

Scared of the others seeing him as nothing but a spoiled brat, Zaheer never told his friends his parents were rich but since they seemed to be okay with Femke being a princess earlier I didn't think it would be alright to make them mad at Zaheer for not telling them he was rich as well, since that was most likely what had happened indeed if he had told them before he was rich.

That was all for now, I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a **review!**


	13. Chapter 13: the village of fu jet

Chapter 13: The village of Fu Jet

 **Normal POV**

A few days of traveling later, the group arrived at the village of Fu Jet, which lied in the region of Shai and which was also the place the mansion of former warlord Mogui and his family was located.

"There it is." Zaheer said as he pointed out the Mansion to his friends from on top of a hill.

"Charming. Didn't change one bit." Ghazan said as he looked down at the mansion with a smirk on his face.

"Stop that." Ming Hua snapped at Ghazan as she smacked him on the back of his head with her water tentacle as femke wrapped her arm around P'li, who looked down at the mansion with a sad look in her eyes.

"He isn't there anymore, it is going to be fine." I assured my best friend as I gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

"I know. Despite that, I don't want to go in there again." P'li said as she looked at the mansion it had al started for her, still haunted by the things morgai put her through.

"I understand, but we have to get in there to find whatever Laniban was talking about." Femke said as she gave her friend a small re-assuring smile, at which P'li smiled back while Ghazan frowned.

"Wait, Combustion Man's real name is Laniban?" The lavabender asked.

"We now at least know his real name so we don't have to call him _'Combustion Man'_ all the the time. That nickname always felt off to me." P'li smiled as the group now walked through the small forest towards the village from which they would get to the mansion.

"Pretty old-fashioned town. It reminds me of Downland in Magix." Floxy grinned as he looked around.

"Downland?" Ghazan asked as he looked at Floxy.

"Downland is a Kingdom under a Mountain where the Downland people live, they look a little like how the earth people believe aliens look, and they don't ever see the sun, I will take you guys there someday when we're in Magix again." Femke said as she looked at some people with a small smile. _"Also, whisper next time you address the Pixies and Elves. They're invisible for non magical beings."_ Femke continued on a whispering tone after they turned a corner to a alley were no people walked.

"Why are they?" Ghazan asked as he looked at the elf on his shoulder.

"Because the people of this world don't believe in our realm's magic. They can't see the elves and pixies. Kind of like how some people don't see Spirits." Femke explained as they passed a fruit shop, were the older woman who owned it looked up at them with a small smile, waving a little at P'li who gave her a wave back.

"Some of the villagers still seem to recognize me from when I was Mogui's slave." P'li said as the baker waved as well.

"Seems they are very fond of you." Femke smiled as she gave P'li a small hug as she waved at the people who looked at the brunette strangely before they waved back.

"Along with Miss Ti they were the only ones that made I was able to survive that hell." P'li said calmly as she looked at some of the townspeople walking by her.

"They must have known what Mogui was doing. Why didn't any of them call officials? Maybe someone had been able to get you out of that mess." Femke asked perplexed, knowing that if Aang or Zuko had heard about the terrible situation she had been kept in they had come at once to get her out of there.

"Because they were afraid if anyone dared to stand up to Mogui or tell anyone else how I was being treated, Mogui would kill them." P'li said with a sad look in her eyes as she remembered the one time someone from the village had tried to get the word out about her circumstances, that woman was killed on account of treason of her village a few days later. She had been the one to kill her.

 **Femke's POV**

"Wait, if no one ever got the word out about how P'li was being kept, how did you guys knew she was there?" I asked Master Xai Bau.

"We had some inside information from some of our people who were in the village and saw how Mogui treated her." Xai bau explained as he looked at the gate we now arrived at. "And that no one can get the word out about someone's situation doesn't means there aren't any whispers about it." He added as he placed a hand on the gate and gave it a firm push.

 _"Damn it. Locked."_ xai bau muttered, which made me grin as I pushed him to the side.

"Leave this to me." I said, doing the same as Toph had done, spitting in my hands before I placed my hands on the metal door and bending them until it fell down with a loud crash.

"Knock knock." Ghazan smirked as he walked past me over the metal door and towards the wooden front door.

"Now what?" Zaheer questioned as he placed a hand on the wooden door, which was locked as well.

"Anyone have a key?" Floxy questioned from my shoulder as Sapphire and Arsenio flew down to check under the mat before the door for a key.

"Worth the try." ghazan smirked as he now used his fully body to try and bust in the door. It didn't work.

"Maybe she hid it someplace else." P'li smiled as she looked at me, then looked up at the water drain above the door, smiling she got on her toes and grabbed the key from out of it.

"Handy to have a tall friend." I smirked at P'li as she opened the door.

"Where's the fun in that?" with a raised eyebrown

"Sorry." I started, but stopped as I heard something crack.

 _'Must have been a mouse or something._ ' I thought as I looked around in the dark..

"Can we turn on a light?" Ghazan asked, as I heard some shuffling next to me. "We got three firebenders now. Shouldn't be hard."

"And notify that we're here? I don't think so." Ming's voice called from somewhere before me as the shuffling continued. I felt a chill run down my spine.

"Are you alright, Femke?" I heard Zaheer call from behind me as I felt his hands on my shoulders, which made me thankful it was so dark. At least no one saw I blushed at his touch.

"I'm fine. I'm just having a feeling we're being watched by something." I said as my eyes slowly got used to the dark, which made my werewolf sensed kick in.

"Your eyes are glowing." Ghazan said but I stopped him, holding my finger in the air as I sensed something near us.

"What is it?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me, shocked. I felt a chill go down my spine. I was sure of it now. There was something with us in this house.

 **"Everyone get behind me!"** I called now as I saw a dot of red and blue rise in the hall. Upon seeing this, everyone did as i told them as the light took the form of a human body and when the facial details appeared I heard P'li gasp behind me.

 _"Mogui."_

 **P'li's POV**

 _"Mogui"_ I whispered, looking at the monster that had made my life miserable for nine long years with a dumbfounded look. Zaheer had told me he killed Mogui when he came to free me. Yet he was standing here before me.

 _'Did he lie? No. He looks like a ghost and all those chains must represent some sort of punishment. Serves him right for how he treated me.'_ I thought as the ghost of my former master look at the group before him, smirking when he saw me, which made my heart leap in fear but i didn't showed it. I took a deep breath and readied a combustion blast at him, making it go right through him at full force.

 _ **"You dare attack your master? And here I thought you had become wise and realized your place."**_ Mogui bellowed as I inhaled and blasted his way again even though I couldn't physically harm him anymore.

 **"The only reason I came back is because someone told me I could find out the truth about my parents."** I snapped at the man, hiding the fact that I was trembling on my feet right now, not wanting the others to see i was still afraid of this man after all these years.

 **"You're not my master anymore! I'm a free person now!"** I snapped at the man that used to be my master with a scowl on my face as all the anger, sadness, fear and abuse I had taken from him over those nine horrible years started to well up a rage inside me.

"You really think they will treat you any different? Don't make me laugh. You were born to serve." Mogui said as he pointed at my friends after which Femke growled and took a step towards Mogui with a rage in her eyes I had never seen from her before, only to be stopped by Zaheer, who took her shoulder and shook his head at her, signing to her this was my battle.

"I'm not their property." I said as I pointed at them. " **They are the most amazing friends and allies I could have ever wished for. They were the family I never had. They're nothing like you!"** I snapped at him.

 **"Did you ever consider what you were doing? What you put me throught?"** I now snapped at him as I took a step towards the ghost who backed away a little as I fired another shot through him. **"You beat me up! Starved me! Tied me to that pole in the open field! I wasn't even human to you! I was five years old!"** I screamed as tears of emotion welled up in my eyes at the very thought of all those moments of despair.

"Big talk, coming from you." Mogui countered.

 **"It's the truth!"** I raged at Mogui now, as more things blew up around me. **"It was horrible! It took Zaheer and the others years to get me to a point I felt safe around people again."** I yelled outraged as tears welled up in the corners of my eyes at the thoughts about all those years I had been locked away at this place, all alone.

"Would you stop?" Mogui said, his chains rattling as he crossed his arms.

"What I don't understand is why someone as monstrous as you can be the husband of someone as nice and gentle as Miss Ti." I said firmly. "Let alone the father of someone as amazing as Hong Lee." I continued, remembering Hong Lee had been the only friend I ever had in that time.

 **"Hong has his mother's weak nature!"** Mogui snapped, his eyes softening at the mention of his son.

"She wasn't weak! She was the best thing that ever happened to me, thanks to her love and kindness I'm still alive." I said as I turned my back on Mogui. "Thanks to her I made it out of that hell and became the real me. Found people who loved me. The real me." I smiled.

"Why aren't they supporting you right now then?" Mogui mocked me as he looked at the roof above us were Femke and the others were, whom had gone off while I was yelling at morgui

"Because they're helping me find out about my parents so I can ask them things." I told Mogui as Femke dashed down the stairs with something in her hand.

"I think we found it!" Femke smiled as she handed me two things, one was a letter and the other was a photo of me and my parents, taken the day they had brought me here. A memory came to me.  
 _  
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 _ **"P'li! Get down here at once!"**_ _My father called from down the stairs that morning which made me instantly jump up and get dressed, not forgetting to at least look a little presentable as I went down the stairs, knowing today was the day, today I was going to that relative that could teach me more about my powers._

 _ **"About time, now get your bag and hurry! We have to be there before sundown."**_ _My father barked at me which made me nod and pick up the small sack with belongings I had. It wasn't much, the most important thing was my favorite doll Anni whom I had gotten from a kind lady in the village who had looked at me with kind eyes as she had told me it was very old and that I should take good care of her._

 _'I hope she gets enough air in the bag.'_ _I thought as I got in the back of the little cart my father had rented for the journey before we started to drive through the small city to the village of Fu Jet where the relative lived. As I looked out of the window I could swear I saw the kind old lady stand in a back alley, looking at me sadly as she waved at me. I smiled at her and waved back, not understanding why she was crying._

 _"Look, Anni." I beamed as I got my doll from out of my bag and held it before the window so it was smiling at the woods that were now all around us. "I'm sure he will be very nice, and I will be a great Combustion Bender at some point." I told it as I hugged it close, looking at the forest around me with a smile on my face. I was going to learn to be the best Combustion Bender in the world. Then I would be able to use my powers to earn money and be able to feed my parents. We reached Fu Jet, were my father got me out of the car and got a hold of my arm._

 _"_ _ **Now listen up. When Mogui comes up to us you will bow down before him and call him**_ _ **'Master',**_ _ **understood?**_ _ **And don't look him in the eyes. He can't stand that."**_ _My father barked at me, which made me nod and look down at Anni with a small sob._

 _ **"And that doll of yours isn't coming along. What would your Master think of you?"**_ _My father scolded me and before I could do anything he had taken Anni from my arms and had burned it with his firebending which made me cry in terror, since that had been the only doll I had ever gotten._

 _ **"Stop that, you're too old for toys."**_ _My father told me as he led me through a big gate towards a very big mansion where I would live from now on. I looked at it with big wide eyes as two people; a man and a woman came out of the house and walked to my parents, who bowed before him, looking at me firmly when I didn't, which made me remember their words and bow down as well._

 _"Good afternoon, Master." I said with a small voice, feeling this man wasn't nice when I looked up at him a little._

 _"Good afternoon." He replied as he forced a walking stick under my chin and looked me in the eyes which made me gasp and lower my eyes at once, remembering my father told me Mogui didn't liked to be looked in the eye directly._

 _"Tell me your name." Mogui asked as he walked around me._

 _"P'li. My name is P'li, Sir." I stumbled as his cane poked me on a few places. "And how old are you, P'li?" morgai asked as he stopped right next to me, looking down at me._

 _"I'm five years old, mister." I said with my head down so I wouldn't look him in the eye by accident. Instead I looked at the woman who was standing behind the man. The woman was looking at me very kindly. She had a young boy standing behind her, who looked at me curiously look as my new master inspected me._

 _"She seems a little skinny for a five year old don't you think?" The woman asked her husband with a small smile on her face as she gave me a loving smile._

 _"My parents barely had the money to feed us all, Miss." I replied before my master could, which was a big mistake._

 _"Don't ever talk over me young lady!" Mogui snapped at me which made me nod in fear as the man looked at my parents with a smirk on his face. "She will do, though I will have to work on her manners." The man said, before he took a bag with money from his vest and handed it to my father, who nodded with a bow._

 _"Thank you Sir. Good luck with her." He said before he and my mother left without saying anything to me anymore, leaving me with that horrible man for the nine long lonely years that came after that. Until Zaheer finally set me free._

 _0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 flashback  
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 **"Excuse me?"** The voice of Mogui called me from my memory, making me look at his ghostly face with a scowl.

"How could they just walk out on their five year old daughter? Like it didn't matter to them at all!" I said as I saw Femke open the letter and started to read it. "While they saw how you treated me." I said remembering they had walked out on me, even after how Mogui treated me.

"That might be because they're not who they claimed to be." Femke gasped, which made me look up at her.

"What?" I gasped.

"Their not who they claimed to be. The letter says so. It is a letter from Ti." Femke said as she walked to me and gave me the letter. I took it over and read it;

 _My dear P'li_

 _If you read this letter, it will mean you have returned to the place your story started._

 _I have wondered where you went of to from the day I got the message Mogui was killed and I was very shocked to see your picture in the newspapers, saying you were arrested for attempting to murder the Avatar._

 _I hope that is all behind you now. I have a reason to leave this letter for you._

 _You see, the people that left you with Mogui are not your biological parents._

 _Come and see me in Ba Sing Se's upper ring as soon as you can. You will be able to find the mansion as it has the same symbol on the front gate as you have on your forehead._

 _I will always be there for you if you need me and both Hong Lee and I wish you the best._

 _Miss Ti_

I read, making me tear up a little since Miss Ti still had a place in my heart since she had been the only person in the mansion who had ever cared about me. She and her son Hong Lee had been the only rays of hope back then.

"We're going back to Ba Sing Se." Ghazan said.

"Why couldn't she just write down who her parents were in the letter?" Ming Hua questioned as I looked at the letter with a dumbstruck look, unable to believe what Ti had written. She was not only still thinking of me and had seen what had happened to me the past decade but she had also wanted to contact me because my parents weren't my parents.

"I don't know but maybe it was too important to write down. She might have been scared that Mogui's ghost would take a peek and try and dispose of P'li's real parents to get back at her for Zaheer taking his life," Femke said as she pointed at Mogui. "In any case, we better go to Ba Sing Se at once." Femke said.

"Hold on. Before we go, there is one thing I want to show you." I said with a smile on my face as I took Femke by her hand and pulled her through a small door that was hidden behind a portrait of Mogui's father. Femke looked at me confused as I pulled her through the small gate into the dank dungeon behind the soldiers quarters I had once called my home and started to slowly look at the doors as my memories ran at top speed, stopping before a door near a dead end, and looking at it silently.

 **Femke's POV**

"Where are we?" I asked as I looked at the door, not quite understanding what we were doing here, though I had a feeling where she had taken me.

"This is where I lived when I was Mogui's slave." P'li said as she placed her hand on the doorknob with a stern look, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she swung the door open, revealing a small room, just big enough for the two of us to fit in, icy cold and pitch dark.

"How terrible." I said as I took one step towards the wooden bench and placed my hand on it, just feeling the negative energy radiating from this place.

"Try and live here for nine years." P'li said as she stood next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "That's behind me now." she said.

"It's horrible how warlords like him can do this. That authorities weren't helping you one bit is terrible, too." I growled, kneeling on the ground with a sad look in my eyes, for one moment totally understanding why P'li chose anarchy over getting a normal family.

"It was horrible. But it's behind me now. I confronted Mogui and that made me feel better. Even though it will never truly leave. I'm ready now. Ready to move on. Ready to become a Voortrix." P'li said as she kneeled next to me and looked me in the eyes sternly.

"You're a very strong person, P'li. I'm proud to be your friend. Not because of what you have but because of who you are on the inside." I smiled at her as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Thanks. You and the others are the best that ever came in my life." P'li smiled.

"Let's go before the others get worried about where we…" She started, stopping when she saw Mogui standing in the doorway, looking at us with glowing eyes as he blocked the doorway.

 **"Go away. I'm not scared of you."** P'li told Mogui as she got in front of me as if she was trying to protect me.

"You will be once more. You will never leave this place again." Mogui smirked as he launched himself at us as darkness overtook us.

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And with that I end a relatively small chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Just as match as I enjoyed writing it.

 **A/N:**

As I was writing the chapter I suddenly got the idea to make Mogui ghost appear here since ghosts can be punished for their misdeeds by letting them stay on earth with chains on that represent their misdeeds, I took 'A Christmas Carol." as inspiration for this scene.

It was a idea combination of me and Paranoidgirl to let P'li confront Mogui for his mistreatment of her, which was what she needed.

Despite everything, P'li wanted to show femke her old cell, this was more because I didn't want Femke asking her to show it, since she knew how much it hurt her to be there and it thought it would be a good place to finish the chapter.

Okay that was all guys, thanks for reading and if you want to know what happens next I suggest you keep reading and leave a review!


	14. Chapter 14: the nightmare world

Chapter 14: The Nightmare World

 **Femke's POV**

When I woke up I was still in the same cell. My head was burning for some odd reason and P'li wasn't lying right next to me anymore. Instead she was chained down to the wall a few feet from where I was.

"P'li? What's going on?" I asked as I moved my hand to grab her shoulder, but something prevented me from doing so. When I looked at my arm I saw why; I was also chained down and for some odd reason I wasn't able to metal bend the chains off when I tried.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this."

P'li stated when she looked at the old rags she wore around her body with a sad look before she looked at my forehead, her eyes widening in shock when she did so.

"Femke. Your forehead."

She said, stammering as she looked at my forehead which immediately made me grab it in alarm, feeling something had to be terrible wrong if P'li reacted like that.

"What's wrong with my forehead?"

I asked as I looked at her with a shocked look as I still held my face in my hands with a terrified look on my face.

"The Mark of a Combustion Bender."

P'li said with a shocked look on her face, which made that I grabbed in my pocket for a mirror, almost dropping it in shock when I saw I indeed somehow had a Combustion Bender tattoo on my forehead.

"But how? I didn't have it when I passed out."

I said as I looked at P'li, who looked back at me just as incredulous as I was right now. Unable to understand what was happening.

"That's because I took you here."

A voice called, making both P'li and me look up at the door, gasping when we saw Mogui stand in the doorway. Not as a ghost but as a human and behind him was the real life version of an older man, looking at us with a dark smile.

 **"What did you do to us?"** I barked at the man as I got up and walked to him as far as my chains let me. It made Mogui get a whip and crack it before my feet, making me back away in fear.

"I brought you to this world; the Nightmare World. Here your spirit will be trapped forever" Mogui said as I looked at P'li with a shocked gasp.

"How did we even get here?" Femke asked.

"The cell works as a gateway; a small gap between two worlds I worked on with my father." Mogui said as he looked at the other man, presumably his father, with a smirk on his face.

"There is no way out." He continued. "Enjoy your stay." With that the two men closed and locked the door, leaving us behind.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"P'li was just going to show Femke something. What is keeping those two so long?" I questioned after waiting for fifteen minutes for the girls to return.

"Just doing some recalling, don't worry." Ghazan said laid back as he sat on a couch as Ming Hua sat on a nearby chair.

"Zaheer is right, those two shouldn't take this long, we better check it out." Ming Hua said as she got up and followed me to the door as did Xai Bau and Tziza, the girls and Ghazan stayed.

"What if they're just doing some recalling?" Ilena asked.

"Then we can give them some time but I want to be sure." I replied as I walked to the door P'li had used before to get to the cell block and walked past the cells, trying to remember which one was P'li's since I didn't hear a sound.

 _'Something's wrong, We would hear them if there wasn't anything wrong.'_ I thought as I found a door that had a blood stain next to the door, which I knew the cause of; me.

 _"Guard this cell with your life."_ I heard Mogui's voice call in my head before his talking became a choked noise from having his throat slit, instantly killing him. All for P'li. She was safe.

 _'Maybe someday soon, she might be able to find her own parents again.'_ I thought as I took the doorknob in my hand to open the cell but I gasped when I fell the door was locked.

 _ **"This is Zaheer! Open up."**_ I called as I knocked on the door now.

 _Silence._

"Please open the door." I said as I shrugged at Xai Bau, who looked at me and shrugged as well, not understanding why no one was replying either. A bad feeling was creeping over me now since I wasn't hearing them call for help either.

 _'Did they lock themselves in? No, we would have heard them call for help. Something else happened and I have a bad feeling about it._ ' I thought as I looked at Xai Bau. "Something happened." I said as I tried to bash in the door.

"I'll go get Ilena. She can metalbend the door open." Xai Bau said as he ran back.

"I never saw him run so..." Tziza started, but I didn't pay attention. All I was thinking about now was freeing P'l and freeing femke. I couldn't lose them. There was no way I was losing them.

"What's wrong with you? You're normally never stressing out over these kind of situations." Tziza said as she looked at me pacing up and down in front of the cell, feeling something might be wrong and since we had seen Mogui's spirit before, he might be behind this.

 _ **"Femke is in danger."**_ I snapped at her.

"P'li too. Or did you stop caring after you broke up?" Tziza asked me as she placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a firm look.

 _ **"What? No!"**_ I said as I felt a blush creep up on me. Tziza just sighed.

"Now is not the time for your love life. It's time to help your friends and allies. You can come to grips with the fact you love Femke as more than a friend later." Tziza told me sternly as Ilena shoved us to the side and with one simple movement of her arm she ripped the door out of the doorpost, revealing Femke and P'li lying motionlessly on the ground.

 _ **"No!"**_ i called as we all gathered around them and tried to wake them up. Nothing seemed to work.

"It looks like their spirits are trapped somewhere else." Xai Bau noted after a while as he examined their eyes and pulse.

"Like a coma?" Ghazan asked, which made me look at him firmly.

"No. More like how Aiwei is trapped in the fog of lost souls." I explained.

"How do we get them back?" Ming Hua asked.

"I don't know but we have to try whatever we can to help them." I said with a determined look to Femke and P'li who were lying unconscious.

 _'Hang in there. We're going to get you out of there.'_ I thought to the girls as I looked at their faces sadly, knowing their safe return was upon us now and I was going to get Mogui for this.

 **P'li's POV**

"Now what?" I asked Femke as she sat down in the lotus position and tried to concentrate on something.

"I'll see if i can meditate into the Spirit World and warn Zaheer we're trapped. They might be able to figure out a way to break us out of here." Femke said before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As she did so I looked at the raggy clothes I wore. It looked a lot like the dress I had burned with Zaheer all those years ago. After he had freed me from Mogui.

 _0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_

 _Flashback  
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 _Soon after Zaheer had murdered Mogui and secured my freedom, we headed out. While in a town, Zaheer took me to a shop and bought me some proper clothes and actual shoes, which shocked me at that time since it had been a while people had been nice to me._

 _"Part of your new life, P'li. You can dress however you want and talk to me if something is bothering you." Zaheer had smiled at me as he let me choose some clothes for myself in which i chose the red yellow and black outfit I wore until today, smiling as I stood before Zaheer in it, making Zaheer look at me with a small smile as well._

 _"You look amazing. I'm glad you found something you like instead of always having to wear rags." Zaheer had smiled at me as he went to pay for me, after which he disappeared for a moment and got back not much later with a bag of hot steam buns and fresh water._

 _"Dig in." Zaheer smiled as he handed me the bag after which he got himself one. We walked back to the camp in silence, only when we reached it again did he speak up._

 _When we got back, Ming Hua and Ghazan were with us, smiling as Zaheer took my hand and gently guided me around my waist to the fire. I looked up at him nervously._

 _"Don't be frightened, P'li, we're not going to hurt you. We want to help you." Zaheer said he sat me down next to the campfire and close to the others after which he handed the rags I had once worn. "I thought you would like to burn them yourself. It will help you realize you're through with that life. You're free now. Truly free." Zaheer said as he gently placed a hand on my shoulder which made me look at him. This really seemed the mean that I was free. That I wasn't going to be used to murder or threaten innocent people._

 _"How can I be sure you mean that? That you're not saying this only to crush my hope later on?" I asked suspiciously as I looked at the rags in my lap, the symbol of my slavery under Mogui._

 _"We don't. No one forces you to put your trust in us if you don't want to. We want to help you. Truly help you. But only if you're open to it." Zaheer said as he placed a gentle hand on mine which made me smile at him thankfully, looking at the rags once more I decided I wanted this all to end. I wanted to forget Mogui. Learn to be me. The real me that I hadn't been since age five when my parents sold me._

 _"Go on. Know that I will be with you." Zaheer told me with a smile on his face._

 _"I'm not sure I'm ready to make that step but I am ready to try and let go of the past. Let's see where this will take me." I said with a nod, before I threw the rags in the fire, smiling inwardly as I saw them burn to ashes._

 _0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000end of flashback  
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000_

"It doesn't work! I can't go to the Spirit World." Femke growled, which snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked at her, worried. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to get help unless Femke could tell where we were at the moment.

"Great. Does that mean we're trapped?" I asked.

"Only until we found a way out." Femke said as she looked down in a pondering way. "I wish jinora had told me how she managed to spirit project." Femke muttered as she took the lotus position again.

"Except for what Mogui told us, we have no idea where we are and he might be lying. We have to make sure we are indeed in some sort of nightmare world." I told Femke sternly, falling silent as I heard the lock on the door rattle for a moment before Mogui and his father came in, each of them taking us by a chain and pulling us on our feet.

"Let's check out our newest weapons, shall we?" Mogui de Fuqin said as he looked at his son, who nodded as he pulled me along to the training ground ,which was back to the way it used to be, and put us in a line with more people. As he did so I heard Femke gasp in shock, since most of them weren't older than four or five years old.

"Let's see if you can fulfill today's demands. Make sure you get past the obstacles and to the target then _**hit it**_ ," Mogui called as he pointed at an obstacle course which made me pause since this had been the first thing I had been told to do as well, and that time I had failed. I knew I would be able to do it now but Femke might have trouble without her magic abilities backing her up…

 **Femke's POV**

When Mogui showed the obstacle course I looked around the grounds, not paying too much attention to what he was saying since I wasn't planning on doing that anyway. No, I had to make up a plan to get the both of us out of here fast and do something for those poor children in the meantime as well.

 _'There has to be some way out of here.'_ I thought as I looked around, trying to concentrate on my magic abilities, but nothing happened.

 **"Your turn."** I heard a voice snap. I looked up from my thoughts and my eyes met those of Mogui.

 **"No."** I said clearly as I kept my eyes locked in his.

"Neither will I. I **refuse** to get turned in your personal weapon **again.** " P'li said firmly as she got in front of the children, who all looked up at us with shocked eyes, unable to believe we dared to refuse a direct order from Mogui.

"When I'm through with you, you will kiss the ground I'm standing on just like these children." Mogui snapped, at which he cracked the whip on the ground before the feet of the smallest child, a little girl that cringed at the sound of the whip and immediately went to run the obstacle course. She fell halfway through and was barely able to get up again.

 **"Get up, you're not done yet."** Mogui screamed at the child, which made me gasp in shock and horror. The child winced in pain but was unable to get up.

 **"You're hurting her!"** I called as I pulled at my chains in an effort to try and get to the child but I was unable to.

 _'I can do something. My tattoo isn't covered. I can still bend.'_ I thought as I took a breath and concentrated my blast on a spot near Mogui. The blast hit a few feet from target, but Mogui instantly turned around and faced me, all the children gasped and looked at me as I fell my body glow. I smiled at P'li and broke the chains with my metalbending, which suddenly worked. As fast as I could I bended P'li free and together we bended At Mogui, who managed to dodge us and tried to strike us, but we were faster and once unchained we were a strong team, but because we only had our eyes pinned on Mogui, we forgot Mogui de Fuqin was still there as well and just as we thought we were winning we got bashed on the head which caused us to pass out…..

When I regained my consciousness I looked at the face of the little girl I had saved from Mogui. She was looking at me with widened eyes as P'li rubbed some water over my arm where I saw an amount of bruises when I sat up.

 _"What happened?"_ I asked groaning as I sat up, a immense pain spreading through me as I did so. "Mogui and his father is what happened. They punished us for trying to escape." P'li said.

"Did he do this to you all the time?" I asked as I groaned a little. My whole body hurt. Mogui did a number on me. That wasn't going to stop me from trying to get away again. We just had to watch out for his father the next time.

"I got used to it in time. I'm almost immune to it." P'li smiled, but I could see the hurt underneath. The little girl jumped when I looked at her with a small smile and got into the back of the room we were in together with the other children and looked at us, scared.

"Don't be afraid. We won't bite." I told the child with a small smile on my face as I moved a little towards them, which made all the children look at us with widened eyes.

"why did you fight Mogui? You got hurt." The little girl asked as she watched P'li clean my wounds with the little supplies we had.

"Because that's what felt like the right thing to do. Mogui is dangerous and shouldn't treat you like this." I said calmly, not wanting to scare the innocent girl.

"How would you know?" The little girl asked me as she took a step towards me with a curious look in her eyes.

"Because I know of a world where people treat benders like you as equals. Not as tools. Where people like you and me can be really happy." I told her, causing the eyes of the little girl to widen. As did the eyes of the other children.

"Where?" One of the other children asked as they took a step closer to me as well.

"In the Avatar world; the time and place we came from, benders like you are accepted and treated as people. Not everyone is like Mogui." I said with a smile to P'li, who smiled in return. "P'li taught me to use Combustion bending. Because we are the best of friends." I replied.

"No way. Why would you want to learn Combustion Bending?" The child that stood closest to me said as she stomped her foot on the ground, unable to believe what I had just said.

"I know it might sound odd, But it's true Femke wanted to learn to combustion bend. Because she was interested in learning the technique of her best friend." P'li said as she came to sit down next to me, which made me smile.

"This power isn't interesting. It's terrible." One of the older children replied as she looked at me with a sad face which made me shudder. These poor children had no idea how fulfilling being a combustion bender could be.

 **P'li's POV**

"This power isn't interesting, it's terrible." One of the older children replied as she looked at Femke with a sad face which made her shudder. They sounded a lot like how I was when I was their age. Lost and stripped off any hope.

 _'I have to do something. They can't lose all hope. They will be lost forever.'_ I thought as I gently reached for one of the smaller children and put her in my lap.

"All of you. We're born with a gift. A gift that we should be proud of." I started as I gently rocked the small girl in my arms.

"I was like you. When Zaheer, a friend, found me, I felt like this ability was a curse. He showed me it wasn't. It is a gift we should be proud of. Not scared. We're human just as much as everyone else. Mogui is a Monster for making you think otherwise." I said firmly as I balled my fist.

"Easy for you to say. You at least **had** parents who loved and cared about you once." One of the children huffed. "Yes, I grew up with my parents until I was five but they never loved me. I was just a burden to them." I replied, remembering how happy they had looked when they left me to Mogui, glad to be rid of their little burden at last.

"I know it isn't going to be easy. But we have to try and fight Mogui. With all our power combined we can escape this place and go back to a world where we can be free." I said as I got up and looked at them with a smile on my face.

"For what? Only to get our hopes crushed by someone else?" The oldest girl said, before she took the children to a far corner of the room, far away from us.

"You did your best, Li. They won't trust us just yet. They just can't." Femke assured me with a smile on her face as she got into the Lotus position and meditated. Maybe I should try that.

 _'I've seen Zaheer meditate countless times. It might give me some peace of mind.'_ I thought as I got into the Lotus position as well and took a deep breath, concentrating on my breathing. I suddenly felt something glow in my chest. The same power was also next to me.

 _'Our Voortrix. They're connected. But if I can feel both of our powers, then maybe... '_ I thought as I tried to reach further, trying to see if there were any more Voortrix powers around me but as I tried there was some sort of strange wall of power blocking me.

"Femke…, did you feel that? There's some strange sort of wall blocking our connection," I said as I opened my eyes.

"What do you mean?" Femke asked as she opened her eyes as well and looked at me, shocked.

"I concentrated on my powers and felt yours next to me. I figured I could try and reach Zaheer this way and tell him we're in danger but I felt this strange barrier around us. It blocked us from contacting the others." I said as I looked at Femke sternly.

"Wait, you felt a block?" Femke asked me.

"Didn't you?" I asked her.

"No. I didn't concentrate on my own powers but now that I know that can cause me to find out the problem." Femke said as she closed her eyes and focused on her own powers the same way I had done. A moment later she opened her eyes again and looked at me with a smile on her face.

"A barrier. A gap between the dream and the real world. That is where we are. We have to find a way to make a split in the barrier big enough for all of us to get out." Femke said as she got up and started pacing.

"What do you mean, all of us?" One of the children asked as he looked at me, shocked.

"We're not leaving you all behind. When we manage to find a way out of here you're all coming with us." Femke said with a determined look on her face.

"What if we don't want to? We have nowhere left to go anyway." One of the girls said firmly as she got before the others.

"You know, I thought everything would be better than staying in this forsaken place." Femke said as she looked at me, which made me nod in return.

"All I wanted was to go when Mogui first took me. We thought you would want to go if given the chance." I said as I looked at the children.

"We don't have anyone to turn back to like you do. We're all alone." One of the smaller children said as it came a step closer.

"You have. In our world would be a place where you'd be loved." I tried.

"Like anyone cares for people like us." The oldest girl snapped as she gave me a firm look and for one moment I saw myself reflected in her eyes as I told Zaheer the same all those years ago.

"There are. My friends back in the real world care." I said, which made the girl huff in reply. "My best friend is Zaheer. An airbender who loves to quote some ancient Guru whenever he can."

"Then there is Ming Hua; a waterbender with a short temper but really nice once you get to know her." I smiled as femke nodded to me smiling as a sign i should keep going.

"And there's Ghazan. Our lavabender who is really laid back and loves to joke around but he really has a heart for our mission" I concluded with a smile on Femke, who nodded with a smile on her face, this time to confirm my words.

"And of course Femke here. My best friend."

"They found me at age fourteen suffering under Mogui. They freed me and gave me a place to call home." I said as I looked at the door. "They told me I was special in my own way and that I should try and be the best me I can be." I said as I stroked the small girl over her hair.

"That sounds so nice." The young girl now smiled as she looked at me with beaming eyes.

"Femke joined the group later and helped us see our mission was destined to fail." I said.

"That's all gone now. You're in here and since we're supposed to be dead there is no way out." The oldest girl snapped as she looked to the side.

"It's not over yet." I said as I got up with the girl in my hand and walked to her.

"I know it is going to be difficult, but we can escape." I smiled.

"But for now, we better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be another day." I said as I looked at the children with a smile on my face, trying to be a bit of a mother to the children, making sure they all lied down and had something to cover them up before I lied down and looked at the roof.

 _"I know you can hear me. I know you're there. Please, whatever Deities that listen. If you truly exist, give us the strength to escape. Don't forget us."_ I prayed softly.

 _"You know what I have been through. You know how much hurt and suffering it caused me and now causes these poor children. Please help us."_ I whispered into the night before I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you liked it.

 **Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15: Enchantix power

Chapter 15: Enchantix Power

 **Femke's POV**

The next morning early we all had to train again. This time Mogui made sure no one could escape by having our foreheads covered until it was our turn to try and run the course. Anyone who objected or refused didn't get diner and since I knew we needed our strength to try and escape once we found a way out I just tried to do as he told me to do. It was very hard and my powers were very weak, as I fainted after four blasts.

 **"Useless girl. You should try and focus better."** Mogui yelled at me countless times. I was most certainly trying my very best to do as he told me to do while keeping an eye out for any way to escape.

In a few days my body got quite the beating and we didn't got much food. I did find a way to escape; a portal that was locked in corner of the back of the mansion. It was small and looked rather weak but if we could reach it we could get out of here.

"How are we going to get there?" P'li asked when I told her about the portal after a training session.

"Tomorrow before training we escape. I found out how to use my powers. We get out of here at dawn." I said as I smiled at P'li.

"What about the children?" P'li asked as she gave me a worried glance.

"I didn't forget. We take them along through the portal. Wherever it leads it will be better then here." I said as I took P'li's hands in mine and looked at her with a smile on my face.

"Let's hope it leads back home." P'li said as she gave me a hug, which I returned.

"Me too. I really miss the others." I said, trying to make it sound like I meant all the others. And I did, but Zaheer in particular. I couldn't help but think of him.

"I miss them as well but be fair with me, do you all miss them equally?" P'li asked me, which made me snap up my head, feeling like she had just read my mind.

"Why do you ask?" I asked with a confused look on my face, trying to hide the color in my cheeks.

"Because I've noticed you and Zaheer keep looking at each other, then look away blushing. You're attracted to him, don't you?" P'li asked me as she looked at me firmly.

"No. I don't feel about him like that." I said as I looked at her with widened eyes.

"I'm not mad Femke. I'm happy for you. Zaheer might feel the same about you. So do me a favor Femke and be honest with him and with yourself." She said as she looked at me sternly.

"I know I should but I don't want to upset anyone if it was true. Especially not you." I said with my head down, still trying to pretend it was nothing despite the many butterflies i had felt in my stomach whenever our eyes had a chance to meet.

"You won't. Believe me. You should tell him the truth if you have any special feelings for him." P'li assured me before she got some pieces of hay and started to lay them in a pattern of a star.

"I'll think about it. For now we have to find a way to get out of here." I said as I did the same as her. I made a layout of the grounds.

"Okay, we're always lined up here." I said as I placed a mark on the map at the place we always stand lined up for the assignments. "We have to reach the portal which I have seen somewhere around here." I continued as I marked the place I had seen a small portal when I had attempted to get out.

"So we have to make sure we get there without either Mogui or his father spotting us." I said as I looked at the map.

"We could Combustion Bend the first part, then try and see if we could bend another element afterwards to catch him off guard." P'li said as she moved some of the hay and shaped it into the form of a small human.

"One problem; you haven't mastered a second element yet." I said as I looked at my best friend sadly.

"It's about time I learned." P'li said as she got up and dusted herself off.

"Not really. We could take him off guard another way. By transforming." I said with a smirk on my face.

"Would that work? Our magic is weak in here." P'li asked with a worried look on her face.

"I noticed. But I also noticed my powers got stronger when I was close to the portal. Like my powers felt the way out of this place." I said as I gave P'li a stern look.

"We will try and transform. If it takes him off guard we can fly up through the portal, out of the reach of Mogui and his father." P'li said before she let out a short yawn.

"I'll stay up a little more to meditate. You get some rest." I said with a smile on my face after which I closed my eyes and started to meditate again.

 **P'li's POV**

"I'll stay up a little more to meditate. You get some rest." Femke said with a smile on her face after which she closed her eyes and started to meditate again. Meanwhile I tended to the children, the same loving way miss Ti had always tended to me. Putting them all under something before I went to sit with Femke and meditated as well, not feeling the need to go to sleep either. I wanted to help out, do as much as I could to help and get out of this miserable place. As I did so I felt a strange strength flowing through my body as I felt Femke's magic trace appear next to mine once again as well as the barrier around us.

 _"P'li you have always been special in your own way and I will always be there for you when you need me._ " I heard the voice of miss Ti suddenly call out next to me. _"I love you Zaheer. I love you too."_ I heard my own voice call as images appeared around me of that one time. The last time in the air temple when we had bid each other farewell.

 _ **'P'li is my very best friend! I would rather die then abandon her."**_ Femke's voice called out, which made me smile at her loyalty to me.

 _"She is amazing. She gave all that up because she wanted true love and lost it twice. Yet despite that she stays strong.'_ I thought with a smile as I looked at a few of my memories of Femke and my other friends. Memories of the time we were the Red Lotus. As I did so I suddenly saw a bright flash and suddenly… a man stood before me. Looking at me calmly.

 _"Who are you?"_ I asked as I looked at the man. I had no idea who he was.

 _"My name is Laniban."_ The man told me with sign language.

"Why hello, nice to meet you. My name is…" I started, but stopped as he raised his one arm.

 _"I know who you are, P'li. You're a friend of Femke whom I met in the air temple. She told me a lot about you."_ He signed to me as he looked at the place Femke was sitting in the real world.

"If I may ask, Laniban. What are you doing in my dream?" I asked him which made him look at me with a smile as he walked to the barrier and placed his one hand on it.

 _"You want to get out, don't you?"_ He signed to me as he gave a small tap on the barrier.

"Femke said that portal will get us out of here." I asked.

 _"It will but it can only take one person out. Then it will lock itself for at least forty years."_ The man signed.

"Isn't there anything we can do to prevent that so we can both get out" I asked as I looked at the man, shocked.

 _"I'm sorry, P'li. The only way would be if it would receive a double dose of magic. Which is impossible since magic like that only exists in stories."_ Laniban signed, before he looked to the side sadly.

"It does exist. Within me. Within Femke. We're fairies. We can blast open the portal long enough to get out." I said firmly as I balled my fists.

 _"In that case, concentrate on your own magic. Your happy memories. You can break the barrier with happy memories. It can't stand that."_ Laniban signed, which made me look at the barrier, unable to believe that this man had just provided me a way out of here.

 _'Will I have enough happy memories to break the barrier? I have so much negative memories.'_ I thought as I took a step towards the barrier and placed a hand on it. As soon as I did so my head was filled with bad memories. Memories of my time under Mogui.

 _'No. I'm not like that anymore. I'm no longer afraid of that monster.'_ I thought as I opened my eyes and looked at the barrier as I called upon some of the strongest and happiest memories that I had; all the times Femke and I had talked, played around. Had fun and I knew more happy times were to come once we managed to get out of here _. 'Mogui. Once there was a time I shrinked at the very mention of your name. but now I have friends who stand by me and who care about me. The real me.'_ I thought to the shield as I fell a positive flow come from me and went into the barrier.

 _"I'm stronger then ever now. I am not just a fairy._ _ **I'm me!"**_ I said out loud as I felt my whole body glow.

 **Normal POV**

As P'li said this the barrier scattered. In the mansion Mogui woke up with a red face, as he looked at his body he saw one of his hands had turned transparent.

"Father, what is happening?" The younger man asked his father with a shocked look.

"Someone broke the barrier that kept time from moving in this realm. We have to warn our leader. We have to keep those two meddlers here." His father said as he looked at his son firmly.

Back with P'li and Laniban, P'li looked at the scattered barrier with a smile on her face, getting in the Lotus position and concentrated on the other voortrix. This time she fell another power apart from that of Femke near her, she tried to contact it and before she knew it she was standing in a room with Zaheer.

"P'li!" Zaheer smiled as he walked to her and hugged her, happy to see she was okay.

"Zaheer! I'm so glad to see you." P'li sighed as she hugged him back.

"You've been passed out for several hours. What happened?" Zaheer asked worriedly. P'li gave him a confused look.

"Several hours? We have been in here for days." She said.

"No. You've been out for almost seventeen hours. What happened? Everyone is worried sick about you two." Zaheer said as he gave P'li a worried look.

"Mogui keeps us prisoner in some sort of nightmare realm but we found a way to escape. Don't worry. We will be back soon." P'li assured him with a smile on her face.

" **Mogui!** If I get my hands on him the won't even get to the afterlife." Zaheer growled angrily, balling his fists in anger.

"We will deal with Mogui. Just make sure we can move out as soon as we are back. We want to leave for Ba Sing Se as soon as we're out." P'li said before she started to fade.

"I will. Take care for now, P'li." Zaheer said with a smile on his face before she started to wake up, looking straight into the eyes of Femke.

"You okay? I called a few times and you didn't answer. You got me worried." The brunette asked with a worried look on her face.

"Yes I am. I managed to contact Zaheer." P'li smiled, which made Femke look at her best friend with a gawk.

"You did? How? " Femke asked.

"I told him we're stuck here but that we have a plan to escape." P'li told Femke, who smiled in return. "He told me we should take care, and that we haven't been in here for as long as we thought. According to him we have only been in this nightmare realm for several hours, not three days." P'li said as she gave Femke a stern look.

"A clever trick. He manipulates time to make us give up hope on getting rescued." Femke said with a pondering look in her eyes. "We have to get out fast. Who knows what will happen to us if we stay in here for long." She said as she rubbed over her chin, looking up shocked when she heard the lock rattle. Quickly both girls covered up their tracks of their escape plan and lied down, pretending to be asleep as Mogui and his father came in, waking them up to go and train again since it was dawn. Yawning, they rubbed their eyes out since they hadn't gotten any sleep yet but despite that they got up and let Mogui chain them down, knowing that resisting would only lead to punishment, which was something they wanted to avoid.

"They're finally learning their place, father." Mogui said to his father, who smirked in return as he nodded.

"Even the wildest beast can be tamed. it is just depending on how you tame them." He said as they let the whole group outside to the training ground were another obstacle course was set out for today. Femke didn't look at it. Instead she concentrated on her medallion, calling upon Feria for some extra strength to be able to metal bend her chains open without Mogui noticing. Femke smiled as she looked at their moving backs, focusing her chi, which had gotten quite a lot stronger in the seventeen hours she had been here on a spot in between the man, firing as soon as she had freed herself of her chains. Quick as lightning she freed P'li as well now and before they knew it the two of them leaped backwards.

 **"Now, P'li! Magic Voortrix!"** Femke said as she and her best friend placed their arms in the form of a V, which caused a bright light to start glowing around them and before either of the men could do anything Femke had transformed in the enchantix fairy of lightning while P'li was in her first fairy form.

 **P'li's POV**

"Nice!" I smirked as I made my wings flap, causing me to take off.

 **"Like we trained!"** Femke called as she gave me a wink, which made me nod and fly up in the air, crossing each other in the form of a X, and getting as high in the air as possible so no one could strike us, Femke bended the chains from the other children off and used them to tie Mogui and his father to each other, leaping away from the two of them as they crashed down.

 **"Let's move, everyone!"** Femke called as she struck the two man with her electric force attack then flew out before the children towards the portal, who all followed her as we flew out before them towards the shield and the portal were Femke and I landed.

 **"We made it!"** Femke cheered as she looked at the children who all looked at her. "I know this might not be easy…" I said when I saw how scared the children looked at the portal since all of them have been here for most of their lives and most likely didn't know any better. "Do you really want to stay here?"

"No. But we were never free to move on," The oldest girl said as she took a step towards me and smiled, as I suddenly saw as she slowly started to turn blue and transparent. _"Now we are. Even if we are scared of what is to come. We are grateful for you giving us hope P'li. Thank you. Thank you both for everything."_ The girl said, before she and the others each turned transparent, before they disappeared.

"You don't have to be afraid. Not anymore." I smiled as a tear of happiness slid down my face, happiness they had been able to move on now. We were so caught into what we were doing that we didn't look at what was happening behind us, which made we got beaten onto the head, which made I managed to fall on my hands and knees, struggling to keep my vision from turning black.

 **"You horrible fairies! You won't escape from this realm."** I heard Mogui's voice call from behind me.

 _'The world depends on the return of the Voortrix. I can't let this happen.'_ I thought as I groaned and I heard the voice of Laniban in my head again.

 _"Only one of you will be able to pass through the portal."_

 _'Then this is it for me. I will stay behind here. The world needs at least one of us to be saved.'_ I thought as I struggled to get to my feet, letting out a loud roar to scare Mogui as I ran towards Femke and before she could do anything I pushed her through the portal.

 **"P'li, what are you…?"** I heard Femke call out, looking at me surprised before she disappeared through the portal right before it closed after her.

 _'Good luck Femke. Save the world.'_ I thought as I felt a strange form of energy flow through me.

 **"You fool!** Now you're doomed." Mogui laughed as I felt a light around me that got stronger and stronger, I gasped as I looked at myself with a bright smile.

 _'This is not yet the end.'_ I thought as I brought my hands together in the air after which the light turned blinding around me.

When the light cleared away my wings had gone bigger and my dress had gone from light red to an even lighter shade of red with orange ruffles and the sign of my combustion bending even more visible on my chest. _"Unbelievable. I feel stronger."_ I said as I looked at Mogui with a smirk on my face.

"This is the part where you start running." I smirked as I made my wings flap, which made a strange dust rustle past my cheek. I looked at it taking the small bottle shaped charm in my hand, feeling there was a strong positive energy coming from them.

 _'Laniban. Is this it? The strong positive power you told me about?'_ I thought as I flapped my wings some more, concentrating on the positive magic coming from it. _'I can feel the positive magic. This has to be it.'_ I thought as I raised my arms in the air and called upon my fairy dust.

 **"What is she doing? Stop her!"** I heard Mogui call, but he didn't seem to be in the position to stop me as I used my fairy dust all around me, which made the barrier fully shatter around me, making the portal appear once again.

"It's over, Mogui." I said as I looked at him firmly before I walked through the portal which re-opened when I approached the place it once had been. For one moment I saw Mogui looking at me like he was pained. It didn't matter to me. It was the right kind of punishment.

 _'Goodbye Mogui. I hope you will rot.'_ I thought as I walked through the portal, smiling as the nightmare realm melted away around me before I passed out.

 **Femke's POV**

 **"You horrible fairies! You won't escape from this realm. Not alive."** I heard Mogui's voice call from behind us. I wanted to get up, but it was no use. I was too weak to get up. All I could do was listen as I heard some groaning coming from next to me. Groaning I knew belonged to P'li, who was also struggling to get up.

 _'I have to do something. I have to make sure she at least gets out of here. She doesn't deserves to suffer here.'_ I thought as I tried to force myself back on my feet but before I managed to do so I felt a hard push and before I knew it I passed out.

 **"Femke, can you hear me?"** I heard a voice call from above me when I started to wake up again.

"Stop talking so loud. My head is pounding..." I started, but stopped when I realized whose voice it was I was answering.

 _ **"Zaheer!"**_ I called as I shot up and looked at him as he smiled brightly when he saw I had woken up.

"Femke. Thank goodness you're alright." Zaheer sighed as he gave me a hug, relieved that I was okay.

"Me too, but…" I started but stopped as I looked back at the still motionless body of P'li. "Pli is still in there. I have to get back and help her." I said as I looked at the others sternly.

"Why? What happened over there?" Zaheer asked me worriedly as he took my hands in his own.

"Mogui took us prisoner, made us into his slaves along with children. We managed to set the children free but we got injured in battle. P'li must have pushed me through the portal to save me." I said sadly.

"I have always known from the stories she told me how horrible it had been for her. But now I have experienced firsthand how it feels to be abused like that… and it was even worse then she made it sound." I said as I looked at Zaheer with a sad look in my eyes.

"Even worse? P'li must have had a truly rotten past." Ghazan said, which made Ming Hua look at him with a scowl.

"And now she might be stuck in that place forever." I said as I looked at the motionless body of P'li sadly, feeling like she should have followed me by now if she had been fine. I was feeling in my bones something was wrong with her but just as I wanted to make a move and try to get back into there a light flashed and suddenly P'li was standing on her feet before me, in her fairy form, while her wings sparkled on her back.

 **"P'li!"** i squealed in delight as I got up to hug my best friend.

"I had a little power upgrade when you were gone." P'li replied with a smile on her face as she twirled around, which made me gasp in shock, realizing she was indeed wearing different clothes and wings from the last time I saw her transformed.

"That's amazing. Your sacrifice for me earned you your Enchantix power." I smiled.

"Enchantix?" Ghazan asked as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a different fairy form that comes with new powers and a new appearance." I explained as I looked at P'li with a small smile, who smiled happily in return.

"I also have this substance called fairy dust. That's how I managed to get out." P'li explained.

"When do we get that upgrade?" Ghazan asked smiling, seemingly liking this new fairy form.

"You earn it by sacrificing yourself for a relative or someone from your own world. So in your case anyone from this planet could make it happen." I explained.

"Wait. If it only works by a relative or someone from your own world, how come it worked for P'li when she sacrificed herself for you?" Zaheer asked.

"Because I'm related to all the worlds because of my Voortrix status." I smiled as I got up and headed to the door of the cell.

"How did you earn your Enchantix power?" Ghazan asked me, interested as I gave P'li a hug.

"By jumping in front of my fianceé Daniel to protect him when we first faced off against Darkar's minions." i explained with a smile on my face, remembering the first battle Daniel and I had fought against Darkar's minions all those years ago.

"Daniel? Who's that? Ghazan asked.

"The Late Daniel Sato. He was the Voortrix Guide. He was destined to find and train the new Voortrix. He's also my former fianceé and Toph's biological father." I said, admitting the last two with a slight blush on my cheek, since I still cared deeply about Daniel and I would never forget what we had.

"Ah, young love." Ghazan smirked teasingly.

"You should have seen her and Daniel back in the day." Floxy replied with a teasing smirk on his face, which earned him a small pat on the back of his head from me.

"How did he die?" P'li asked me.

"He was killed by one of Darkar's minions to protect our youngest son Dylan." I said as I looked down sadly. That memory still haunted my worst nightmares because I felt guilty. He had only been nineteen when that happened. He was still young and had a life ahead of him. I should have been the one that creature killed. Not him.

"Sounds bad. Losing your beloved. But at least your son got out in one piece." Ghazan said, as I lowered my head then shook it as a sign he hadn't which made everyone in the room fall silent.

"He didn't?" Xai Bau asked solemnly. I nodded and looked at him with tears in my eyes.

"He was murdered a few months after Daniel died. After being in the dungeon of lord Darkar's minions for months." I said with my head down, which was why I looked up surprised when everyone got around me for a big hug which made me tear up because at that moment my mind flashed back to that hug with Team Avatar that day after Aang told about Sozin and Roku, which made tears flow over my cheeks.

"Their love is still inside you and it always will be. But it is sad the boy died so very young." Xai Bau said with a smile on his face as he placed a hand on my heart. I smiled and opened my mouth to give him an answer, but before I could do so the walls started to crumble around us.

"We have to get out of this room right now." P'li said, since both of us knew what was causing this collapse. Everyone ran to the door and managed to get out of the small cell right before it totally collapsed.

"Mogui. He tried to kill us." P'li said as she looked at me sternly.

"Well thank goodness it didn't work." I smiled as I gave her a hug and looked around, seeing to my great relief everyone had indeed managed to escape the room before It had totally collapsed.

"Let's rest up here for the night and head to Ba Sing Se tommorow." Zaheer said as he looked from P'li to me with a smile on his face.

"First we might want a decent meal since I don't think they serve that in the realm they have been locked in until just now." Xai Bau said with a smile on P'li and me as our stomachs both rumbled loudly in agreement.

"I agree to that. Let's get something to eat, sleep some and tomorrow we head to Ba Sing Se." I smiled as I got up from where I had dived to in order to get out of the cell and dusted myself of, smiling at P'li as I helped me up on my feet again, before we all headed back through the small gate into the main house.

"Let's not stay here for the night. I won't get any sleep in here." P'li said as she looked around the house with a look of distrust in her eyes which I completely understood. We destroyed the nightmare realm but that didn't meant Mogui's ghost was gone. Who knew what he would be up to if we stayed in here.

"I agree, Mogui isn't gone so were not safe in here. Let's get out in the forest to eat and sleep. I think both P'li and I would rest better out there in then in here after our adventure in the nightmare realm." I said as I placed a hand on P'li's shoulder.

"Very well, were more safe out in the woods anyway. We will at least be able to flee fast in case of an emergency." Zaheer said as we all headed out of the house after which I used my magic to erase our traces and repaired the gate to cover up we were there. As we headed into the woods I saw P'li looked back at the estate one last time.

"You coming, Li?" I asked with a smile on my face as I placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah." P'li smiled at me as she turned around now and gave me a hug. With that we turned to the forest and away from that place forever.

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And with that I end a relatively long chapter! I hope you all did enjoy it.

 **A/N:**

Femke is the one that made the plan to escape but for the rest I tried to make this chapter more about P'li, since she was the one that had to deal with Mogui before.

I know P'li earned her enchantix power because she sacrificed herself for Femke who isn't a fairy of the Avatar realm, but as Femke explained she is a Voortrix, and the Voortrix power is bound to many different worlds including the Avatar world.

Of course everyone would stick with Femke and P'li in that cell and try to figure out what was going on. Yet I thought in the end it might be P'li who discovers where they are being kept and how to escape with some help since i really believe P'li helped Zaheer with the planning, just as much as the others.

That was all for now! Thanks for reading and thanks Paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader and advisor.

 **Thanks for the many views and please leave a review!**


	16. Chapter 16: on to ba sing se

Chapter 16: On to Ba Sing Se

 **Normal POV**

The next morning at dawn the Red Lotus departed from the village of Fu Jet and started to head to Ba Sing elves sat on the shoulders of their bonded fairies and since this was their first time to get to the Capital city of the Earth Kingdom they asked their bound fairies a lot of questions about the place, questions the fairies gladly answered since they had seen the city many times before. Especially Femke.

"Should we go straight to Ba Sing Se?" Zaheer asked as he came walking next to Femke, looking at the brunette as they passed through the forest Zaheer had walked through before with P'li right after his first try to save her from Mogui all those years ago.

"I'm not sure, Zaheer. We're still fugitives and it might be risky to show up there out of nowhere." Femke replied as she looked at Zaheer, still looking like she was a bit in shock on how things had turned out the past few hours.

"We could disguise ourselves while we travel to the highest ring. Wouldn't be the first time." Ming Hua suggested as she looked at P'li, who looked away sadly before she just climbed into a tree and looked out over the forest area.

"You okay, Li?" Femke asked as she came into the tree next to her and looked in the same direction.

"I'm fine. It's just strange, isn't it? Everything that happened in the nightmare realm. Now we're here it all feels like it was just a bad dream." P'li said as she sat down with Femke on the branch and looked out over the forest.

"Yet we both know it really happened. Your Enchantix proves it. Which reminds me; I haven't even properly thanked you for saving me in there." Femke said with a smile as she placed a hand on her best friend's knee.

"It was nothing. Anyone anyone would have done that for a friend." P'li replied.

"No, it was something. You must have been terrified of Mogui after all he did to you and yet you were willing to sacrifice yourself and risk getting stuck in there to free me. That is the act of a true fairy." Femke said with a serious look on her face. "Seriously. Thank you." The brunette said again, which made P'li nod smiling in return.

"You're welcome. I wasn't that scared of Mogui anymore. I accepted it as part of my past. It's history now." She smiled, after which they rejoined the group, whom had walked on to allow the girls to have some privacy.

 **"Last one at the edge of the forest is a rotten egg!"** Femke called playfully as she passed the rest of the group in the trees.

 **"You're on!"** Floxy grinned as he flew up and out before Femke. Both of them were happily racing through the woods until the group reached the edge of the forest near a village.

"We better get around it. They might alert the White Lotus if they recognize us." Zaheer said as he looked at the small village.

"This could be a chance. This village is relatively small and might not have received word on everything that has happened." Femke said as she looked at Zaheer. "This could be a good place to obtain both info on what happened the past few weeks we have been out in the world without any contact to the main world and obtain a disguise." Femke said as she got up and started to dust herself off as well as brush out her hair.

"I don't know. It might be risky." Xai Bau said as he looked at me sternly.

"But Femke has a point; we need disguises and info on what happened in this world." Tziza said as she looked at Xai Bau firmly.

"But Zaheer also has a point. We might be recognized and then we have a problem." Ming Hua said as she looked at the rest.

"How about this: I can go and take Tziza and Ilena with me to obtain info and disguises. The rest stays out of sight. If anything happens, go to the lake. We will meet up there." Femke said firmly as she glanced at the town. Everyone nodded as the girls got cloaks and put them on to hide their identity up as much as possible, using Femke's old make up box to make their faces look different then on the wanted posters the White Lotus must have put up everywhere. When they were done they went into town, happily chatting as they did some grocery shopping while listening for information about what's been going on.

 **Femke's POV**

"Kuvira? in jail. She took over the Earth Kingdom and almost took over Republic City." A man said to a pair women, who looked at him while shaking their heads.

"That is too bad. She was a good ruler, even though some things she did and methods she used might have been a little extreme." one of the woman said as she crossed her arms.

"Everything better then that spoiled brat King Wu. That said, I heard he is a lot better now, even wanting to make the Earth Kingdom a democracy." The other woman said as she looked around, then continued on a whispering tone.

 _"Now they just have to find that criminal, Zaheer. Then I would feel safe again."_ At which the other looked around and bowed towards the woman, which made I had to pull the others in a nearby alley to be able to eavesdrop on them more.

 _"Didn't you hear? Zaheer changed after that last meeting with Korra. Rumors have it that he even helped Korra to beat Kuvira."_ The first woman whispered at which the other one gasped.

 _ **"No way."**_

 _"Yes way. And now the word goes around that he changed because a mysterious woman from another dimension. Word goes he is head over heels about her."_ The first woman whispered, which made me look to the side, shocked.

"It's just gossip. For all we know he is on to his old ways again and causing chaos." The first woman said at which the first one nodded.

"More believable than what you first told me. I mean, a girl from another dimension? Unless she's some sort of spirit from the Spirit Realm, that's just not possible." The second woman said after which the conversation turned to something else as we quickly jumped between some passing villagers and acted like we were shopping.

"They believe Zaheer has a crush on Femke and that's why he changed. Hilarious! Wait until Zaheer hears!" Ilena smirked as soon as we were out of hearing distance from the woman.

"Well, what if it was true. I mean, it would explain a lot of Zaheer's recent behavior." Tziza commented, which made me turn my head away in order to make no one saw how red I had turned.

"It was wrong and selfish of him to worry more about Femke's well being then P'li's, for example." Tziza continued, as my eyes turned wide in pure disbelief. He has been more worried about me then about P'li? Why? Did he really stopped caring about her that much? That was very selfish indeed.

"I know. Yet Zaheer did. But that's not my point. My point is that he has been very nervous around Femke lately as well, hasn't he?" Ilena asked as she looked at me, which I confirmed with a small nod.

"He is showing the signs of being in love." Ilena said as she smirked at me.

"Femke, we're only with women now and no one will tell P'li or Zaheer if you don't want to but be honest with me. Are you in love with him as well?" Ilena asked me as she looked at me sternly and she placed a hand on my arm which made me look at her with widened eyes at the sudden question.

 **Zaheer's POV**

I wanted to go and check out what was keeping up the group when I spotted them disappearing in a back alley. I carefully followed them making sure the hood I wore was covering my face so no one would recognize me before I headed into the alley as well, just as Ilena asked Femke something that stumped me.

"Femke... were only with women now and no one will tell P'li or Zaheer if you don't want to but be honest with me. Are you in love with him?" Ilena asked as she walked to Femke with a stern look, which made Femke look to the side sadly.

"I just broke up with Grovyle. I don't know how to feel right now. I feel confused and I don't want to hurt P'li. She is my best friend. I don't want to upset her by letting her think I might have feelings for him. I am not even sure what I feel yet." Femke said, which made me smile a little since she hadn't said she had no feelings for me at all. Which could mean she had feelings for me but just wasn't sure if they were indeed so strong as she thinks.

"I think you might hurt her more if you're not being honest with her. So. Do you have feelings for Zaheer?" Tziza asked Femke.

"I think so. I mean, he is nice and all but…" She started, but stopped as she perked up looking around as she earth bended, and before I knew what was going on I was lying at her feet, groaning as got up.

 _"What was that for?"_ I groaned as I looked up at the others with a pained look in my eyes.

"Never try to eavesdrop on me. You should know that by now." Femke said firmly. She looked to the side quickly after that.

"How long have you been listening in on us?" Tziza asked as she crossed her arms as well.

"I just got here." I lied. Femke realized this, turned red and looked away and an ashamed way, before she ran off without a warning.

 _'Seismic Sense. Almost forgot.'_ I thought as I ran after her without thinking, just making sure my hoodie was back on as I followed her into the forest, leaving Ilena and Tziza behind as I headed after Femke, finding her by a waterfall.

"Femke?" I said as I walked up to her, she didn't turn around, nor did she give me a sign she had heard me. "Femke, I know it was wrong of me to eavesdrop. I just wanted to hear how you truly felt about me." I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder, which made that Femke looked up at me, shocked.

"Why?" she asked me as she avoided to look me straight into the eyes for some reason.

"Because. I thought you acted awkward around me ever since that kiss and I was wondering if it meant more to you then what you first said." I said as I cupped up her head to look me in the eye, which made my stomach turn.

"I know this is strange but..." I started, but stopped as I felt like someone was watching us. I quickly turned around and looked, but I didn't see anyone.

 _'I feel like we're being watched.'_ I thought as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on my surroundings but still nothing came.

"But... what?" Femke asked me.

 _"We're being watched."_ I whispered to Femke, who got really close to me as she hid that she stepped on the ground to get a better view of who was looking at us.

 _ **"Oh no."**_ Femke gasped as she looked up at me, which could only mean bad news.

 _"It's the White Lotus looking at us. Not to mention Korra and the others. We're caught."_ Femke said as she gave me a nervous look which made me smile.

 _"Let them look. I don't care. All I care about is that we're together now."_ I whispered to Femke, who now looked at me, shocked. _"There is something you need to know. I love you, Femke. Ever since that kiss."_ I whispered to her, before I carefully bent towards her and pushed my lips against hers, which made Femke's eyes widen in shock, before she answered my kiss passionately. It felt wonderful.

 **Normal POV**

The White Lotus guard as well as Korra looked in shock as they saw Femke and Zaheer were standing there together with none of the others around at first it seemed like they were just talking, so the guard waited for them to return to the group, so they could apprehend all of them together until Zaheer suddenly moved closer to Femke and gently pushed his lips against hers.

 _"Femke? No."_ Korra stammed as she looked at Femke with a hurt look in her eyes as she watched the girl gently kiss him back.

"Aw. That would be very romantic if it wasn't Zaheer she was kissing." Bolin stated as he looked at Femke and Zaheer.

"Seriously, Bolin. She's just as match the enemy as he is." Mako sighed as he looked at Femke and Zaheer again, who now broke apart, smiling at one another after which Femke said;

"That felt great."

 _"Of course it did. You wanted to murder me too."_ Korra huffed as she looked at Femke and Zaheer looking at each other with a smile on their faces, before they were turned around and started heading of.

"Let's get them." One of the White Lotus guards said as they followed the two.

"No, wait. Look." Asami said as she pointed at the two. They didn't return to the group. Instead they had taken a small path that let under the waterfall. A giggling Femke jumped from one rock to the other, pretending to be dancing.

"Nice, Femke." Zaheer smirked as they stopped at the base of the waterfall to drink some of the water, Zaheer using his hand to make a bowl to drink from while Femke just used her mouth.

"That's dangerous." Zaheer said, smiling as he got close to Femke.

"Not really. So close to the waterfall there isn't debris in the water and the water is fresh and clean." Femke smiled as she kept drinking.

"But someone could do this." Zaheer smirked as he pushed Femke into the water, who let out a yelp before she smirked and headed under, pulling Zaheer into the water when he bent over a little to see where she had headed off to.

"That was childish!" Zaheer smirked as both of them got out of the water.

 _"They're supposed to be older than me."_ korra mumbled as she looked at the two of them laughing as Zaheer had fallen half over Femke.

 _"I don"t see what's so funny."_ Korra mumbled as she looked at the two beneath her, gasping as Femke leaned forward and gave Zaheer a very soft kiss on his cheek. from the other side the remainder of the Red Lotus crew had finally found their missing members as well, laughing when they saw Femke give Zaheer the kiss.

 _"Can you feel the love tonight?"_ Sapphire sang as she looked at them with a smile on her face before the two leaned towards each other and kissed.

"It's about time." P'li smiled as she looked down with a sad look in her eyes. At one hand she was sad that she had lost Zaheer but on the other hand, Femke had been such a nice person to her.

"You're not upset?" Ming Hua asked.

"I knew Zaheer wasn't feeling anything for me anymore when he broke up with me. This is for the best." P'li said calmly as she looked at the two of them with a smile on her face. At the other side Korra looked at the two of them, horrified.

 _"Femke. You claimed you changed. Yet now I catch you kissing the one that almost killed me."_ Korra mumbled as a feeling of betrayal welled up inside her. the White Lotus Guard saw this as well, before one of them called;

 _ **"Charge!"**_

Femke and zaheer looked up from where they were lying. Zaheer's eyes widening in shock, before he quickly jumped to his feet and pulled up Femke, before they stormed to were the others were.

 _ **"We have to shake them off!"**_ Zaheer called to Femke.

 _ **"The trees! They won't be able to follow us through there!"**_ Femke called as she helped everyone up in the trees before they leaped from branch to branch fast as they could.

 _ **"After them!"**_ They heard one of the soldiers call after which the White Lotus guards quickly got into the trees and leaped after them but not as fast and agile as the Red Lotus members.

 _ **"We're losing them!"**_ Zaheer shouted as he stopped one moment to catch his breath and look back.

"They're well trained but they just can't keep up with someone from the Wood Villages." Femke said before she gave Zaheer a worried look.

"You okay?" She asked worriedly, at which Zaheer nodded.

"I'm fine. Let's go before they find us." He said, after which the group headed to the lake were Xai Bau, Tziza and the remainder of the elves were waiting for them.

"The White Lotus is after us!" Ming Hua said sternly as she picked up her stuff, Xai Bau nodded and did the same before they started running again.

"What took you?" Xai Bau asked as he looked at Femke and Zaheer who both blushed and looked to the side, which made Tziza roll her eyes.

 _ **"You didn't."**_ She scolded as she looked at Zaheer, who looked to the side and blushed a little before he nodded.

"About time. Now we can focus on important things." Tziza commented.

"Congratulations. It was bound to happen at some point." Xai Bau smiled as the group landed on the ground near the edge of the forest. From between a few trees they could see the still standing wall of Ba Sing Se.

"Did they still not break that damn wall?" Zaheer started, but stopped when he saw how firmly Femke looked at him.

"You found these walls just as horrible as us." Zaheer said as he looked at Femke firmly.

"I know. But that doesn't mean we can just tear it down. Destruction isn't the answer, especially when we can hurt innocent people. We're past that now." Femke told her lover with a strict look in her eyes, who sighted now and nodded.

"You're right. We're here for P'li's parents anyway." Zaheer sighted as he put on his disguise along with the others before they approached the wall.

"Halt! Identification, please." The man at the wall said firmly as he looked at us, which made Femke gulp in shock, knowing they would be done for if they called their own names.

"My name is Luci Fresh and these are my husband Cherry Fresh and the kids Kakelbont Fresh and Fresh one, two and three. " Femke made up, knowing these man wouldn't recognize the names.

"And them?" The man asked, pointing at Xai Bau and Tziza. "They're my parents in law; Supa Fresh and Ula Fresh." Femke said calmly as she hugged Zaheer to her side, who was a bit red.

"Alright, Proceed." The guard said as they now let the group pass. At the other side off the wall the group let out a sigh of relief as they walked down an alley and towards the next gate.

 _ **"Ghazan? Is that you?"**_ A voice called from behind the group all of a sudden, causing them all to look up. As they did so their eyes fell on a girl in a ragged dress that looked like it had seen better times, looking at the group with a sad look, especially at Ghazan who gasped in shock.

 _"Dahlia?"_

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 **A/N:**

I thought maybe there would be to much of a shock for the White Lotus and Team Avatar when they saw Femke and Zaheer kiss, that's why they were just standing there and watched.

That Femke and Zaheer have confessed they have feelings for each other doesn't immediately mean they will get all lovey dovey over one another, since there's more important matters at hand.

For those who don't remember anymore or who didn't read my story 'The New Lotus' first; Dahlia is Ghazan's sister who left him at age sixteen right before Ghazan joined the Red Lotus.

Well that was all for now, thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review .


	17. Chapter 17:home at last

Chapter 17: Home At Last

 **Ghazan's POV**

"Dahlia?" I asked in shock when I saw my sister standing before me after being away from her for so long. We didn't left on the best terms and I was still mad at her for leaving me when I was sixteen. That said, I felt relieved we had at least been recognized by a friendly face who wouldn't turn us over to the White Lotus.

"Ghazan, it has been so long." Dahlia smiled as she went over to me and gave me a hug which I returned, taking noticing the smell that hung around her. "What happened to you? You smell like you have been sleeping in the street." I said as I gave her a playful poke.

"You, on the other hand, look a lot fitter. Did you train?" Dahlia smiled as she gave my arm a small squeeze.

"You can say that. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your one true love?" I said as my smile fell.

"No, he... he kicked me out. It didn't work out between us the way we hoped and I got him three daughters while he wanted sons." She said sadly.

"I've been wandering the streets ever since, hoping to find you. I'm so sorry about leaving you. I shouldn't have chosen him over my own family." Dahlia cried as she fell on her knees.

"Exactly. Being the naivé one is my job." I said as sat down by my sister's side. After all we've been through and all the harm I caused others I just couldn't stay mad at her. She was also my only living relative.

"Can't blame me for trying." Dahlia smiled as she ruffled my hair in an affectionate way.

"Are you gonna introduce us or do we have to do that ourselves?" Ming Hua asked.

"Nah, I'll get to that." I replied.

"Dahlia, these are my friends; Femke, Zaheer, P'li, Ming Hua, Tziza and our leader Xai Bau." I said as I pointed out each of them.

"Everyone, this is my big sister Dahlia." I said as the others nodded in return.

"So he kicked you out? Are your kids still with him?" Ming Hua asked as she took a step towards Dahlia, who got behind me.

"My youngest is at our old home, waiting for me to return with some sort of food. My former husband kept the oldest two to work for him as payment for everything I cost him." Dahlia said as she picked up some things from a trash heap and looked them over.

"His own daughters have to work for him?" Femke asked with a horrified look on her face.

"To make up for everything I cost him." Dahlia repeated.

"Is money and power the only thing that man cares about?" Femke asked, angry.

"Many of the Upper Class still think about children as a way to preserve their family line. There is little we can do about it." Zaheer said with a sad look to Femke as we started walking, following Dahlia to my old family home.

"The worst part is that us from the lower class can't do anything about it." Dahlia said with a sad look on her face as she opened the door to her house.

 _ **"Dahrina! Mommy is home!"**_ Dahlia called as she walked in first. I followed closely after her as I saw a shabby looking girl not much older then three or four run to her and hug her.

"Mom, you're back! Did you bring some food?" The girl asked with a small voice. At which Dahlia nodded and handed her the little food she had.

"I also brought someone along who wanted to see you." She smiled, which made the girl's eyes grow wide in joy.

"Did dad finally come to get us?" She asked hopefully, turning sad as Dahlia shook her head.

"No, but uncle Ghazan did." She smiled as I now walked in and looked at my little niece with a small smile.

"Hey kid, nice to meet you." I smiled as I held out a hand to my niece as she hid nervously behind her mother.

"Is he the Lavabender from your stories?" The little girl that was my niece asked with a beaming look.

"Yes. This is your uncle ghazan; the Lavabender I told you about." Dahlia smiled as she stroke my little niece over her hair.

"Awesome! Mom told me a lot of tales about you." The girl said with a smile on her face.

"I'm sure she has." I smiled in return as I stroked her softly over her hair.

"What have you been up to? I heard you took down the Earth Queen and I read in the newspaper you attempted to kidnap the Avatar twice, almost managing to kill her the second time." Dahlia asked me as we all sat down on the floor.

"Yeah. Good times. I have been jailed for thirteen years as well and have a lot of tattoos." I boasted, not seeing how shocked my sister looked until she crossed her arms.

 _ **"What were you thinking!? The Avatar is the protector of our world! Everyone needs her!"**_ Dahlia told me sternly. _**"And even so. You really think murder is the answer?"**_

"Hey, I believed I was doing the right thing." I said defensively. with my arms crossed.

 _ **"How was destroying the world order going to help people like me? It only made things worse! Thanks to you this whole block almost burned to the ground because some blockhead brought down the wall!"**_ Dahlia roared at me. Femke took my niece outside.

"We thought it would solve itself and that you after that all could decide your own fate without those walls blocking you." I said defensively.

 _ **"That only destroyed order as we know it. Those walls are needed to prevent the two worlds from colliding. Do you know how many innocent people got hurt or killed because of what you and your friends chose to do? Do you know some of those victims could have been my daughters? Your nieces?"**_ Dahlia said harshly, which made my eyes widen in shock before I looked down in shame. I don't know how many people got either injured or killed because of the fires and looting that had started after I had brought down that horrible wall. I figured the chaos it caused was a good thing.

 _"No…"_ I said now with my head down, realizing what I had done.

"What you did was terrible, Ghazan. Deep down you know that. The world needs to be balanced. That includes the Avatar. What you did was not just horrendous but also very irresponsible. What would mom and dad think of you if they had been here?" Dahlia said

"And what about my family? Look around! This city has been a warzone! Do you know how hard it was for me to raise three daughters while our city is in flames and you have to fear looters and rioters?" Dahlia challenged, making me look down. I hadn't even thought about this.

"I now know Dahlia. I'm sorry for the harm I must have caused you." I said as I looked down.

"Zan." I heard Dahlia mutter as she looked at me sadly before I felt her arms around me.

"I'm just glad someone slapped some sense into you." Dahlia smiled as she hugged me. "Don't do it again." Dahlia said as she tapped me firmly on my chest.

"I won't. Promise." I said as i crossed my heart, holding up my free hand to show I was honest with her. "Also, I am on a quest to try and save the world for real now." I said, which made Dahlia look at me with widened eyes.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes, Femke is one of the legendary Voortrix fairies and she told us our leader Zaheer is one of the Voortrix clan as well and we somehow obtained fairy powers while we travel with Femke to try and save the world." I said.

"That sounds great, Zan. I really hope you will manage it." Dahlia now smiled as she rubbed me over my hair as Femke and the others came in again.

"I got ice cream." Dehlia beamed at her mother as she showed her mother. She had never gotten a ice cream before.

"That's nice of them. In any case; why are you all in Ba Sing Se? Aren't you wanted?" Dahlia asked as the others all sat down.

"We do, but we heard that someone here knows something about my parents." P'li explained as she looked down at her lap.

"Your parents?" Dahlia said, looking a bit confused at the rest, who all nodded and looked down sadly.

"I was sold as a slave to a man named Mogui when I was a child, until your brother and my other friends came to get me out of there." P'li explained, which everyone confirmed with a nod.

"I can understand why, I would also do everything to see our parents again." Dahlia said with a sad look on her face, which made me look down. This was true for the both of us.

 **P'li's POV**

"I understand why. Ghazan told me everything. It must have been hard to be all on your own with a younger brother to care of." I said as I looked at Ghazan's older sister with a sad look in my eyes.

"My intention was to marry someone rich to take him in and at least be able to get him properly schooled so he wouldn't have to end like our parents." Dahlia said as she looked at Ghazan with a small smile on her face.

"You were?" He asked, surprised at this, he'd always thought his sister had just wanted to leave him.

"Of course, you didn't think I wanted to abandon you?" Dahlia asked with a shocked look on her face, which turned sad when she saw Ghazan just looked down, answering her question.

 _"Zan…"_ Dahlia said as she sat down by his side and placed her hands on his arms. "I _**never**_ planned on abandoning you. He _**made**_ me. I had no other choice." Dahlia said as she looked her brother deep in the eyes.

"You had to tell him _'no'_ and stay with me. Simple. And it had spared you a lot." Ghazan answered obliviously as he looked to the side.

"I couldn't. Things aren't that easy in this world for a poor woman who can't bend. It was my only way to survive. People do crazy things to survive." She said. A silence followed after this.

"Anyway, coming back to the reason you're all here. Why now? Why didn't you come to look for them earlier on?" Dahlia asked as she looked at me.

"Because I was recruited into the Red Lotus afterwards and that took things over until Femke came along." I said as I smiled at Femke, who nodded and smiled back.

"I see. Too bad you didn't come in earlier then. That might have spared the world a lot of pain. They probably wouldn't have tried to kidnap the Avatar as a child. Spirits know that would be a disaster." Dahlia said as she looked at Femke with a small smile on her face. I nodded, looking down sadly, knowing she was right. If only Femke had come in sooner. If only she had managed to talk us out of the ideas of the Red Lotus. Tell us that we could save the world without harming innocents. We would have been spared thirteen years of prison.

 _'No, I shouldn't regret the way things have gone. It taught me some things as well and it strengthened me. I should be grateful for the way things are now and for the things that are to come.'_ I thought as I looked at Femke and Dahlia talking while I got up and walked to the door. The weather was nice today. It was a sign things were going to get better soon.

"Got bored of their talking as well?" Ming Hua asked from behind me all of as she came down the stairs. I had been so deep in thought that I hadn't heard her coming out of the house as well.

"I just needed some fresh air." I smiled as Ming Hua came standing next to me.

"We should be looking for your parents, not sitting around here fixing Ghazan's family issues" Ming Hua snarked, but I could hear from the way she said it she wished it would have been her. Finally reuniting with her parents.

 _'Just like all of us, I think she just wants to see her parents one more time before we go with Femke and save the world. This one time might be the last time.'_ I thought as I looked at the clear blue sky, then at my best friend standing next to me.

"I know. We all want to see our family once more before the last fight. Who knows how it will end. It might be the last time we will be able to see them." I said as I gave her a sad look.

"Li, you have never even met your real parents. You don't know how they are. I know how they are and I know how they think of me. They hate me. I think you should go back to them for a while since I'm not planning on ever returning home." Ming said after which she walked inside again. Sighing, I followed her, smiling when I saw Dahlia was standing next to Ghazan and both of them looked like they were ready to leave.

"Okay, gang. We have to first locate Miss Ti's home, from there we split up. P'li and Ming Hua stay with Miss Ti and gather as much information about P'li's birth parents as they can while Ghazan, Zaheer and I go with Dahlia to search for her other two children. Once we have them, we leave the city as soon as we can." Femke said as we all gathered around the small table in the middle of the room.

"Are you sure splitting up will be a good idea? What if you run into trouble and need us?" Ming Hua questioned.

"We're not planning on running into trouble but if we do I'll Combustion Bend in the air once. That way you'll be able to both find us and know that were in trouble." Femke said as she rubbed over her forehead with a smile on her face.

"Still, be careful." Ming Hua said as she looked at me firmly.

"I will." Femke smiled as she nodded at Ming Hua.

"Okay, next problem; we will need to take Dahlia and Dahrina with us to the highest ring. They will never let them pass without proper identification." Ghazan said as he looked at Femke, then at his sister and niece, who both looked down sadly.

"We got in through the gates fine without them, what makes you think we'll need them to get to the highest ring?" Femke questioned.

"The first gate never required identification. To get to the higher rings you do need them and none of us has official identification, I think." Ghazan said as he looked around.

"I did keep them in case of a total emergency but the White Lotus took them when I was captured I think." Zaheer said, which made Xai Bau look at Tziza with a sad face for some odd reason before he pulled something from his pocket.

"Not really. I took them from you before the start of the mission." Xai Bau admitted with a guilty look on his face as he handed Zaheer an official looking document with a seal on it that contained two badgermoles sleeping over one another, which Zaheer took.

"Never thought I would be holding these ever again." Zaheer said as he looked at his papers sadly, something I understood. Those papers said he was the son of a rich family. The heir to a fortune. The person he left behind as a teenager to become a Red Lotus member.

"I never knew your second name was Yorru." Femke noted as she gave Zaheer a teasing push, which made Zaheer push her back. "It does explain your fake name."

"There is so much you don't know about me." He said as he wrapped his arm around her lovingly, which made me look to the side.

"Anyway." Ming said as she rolled her eyes at Femke and Zaheer. "You think that will be enough to get us all through?" She asked as she looked at the papers sternly.

"My family is the richest family after the BeiFongs. They will let us pass. You'll see." Zaheer said as he looked at the papers. "I wish there was another way. Using my wealth to get what I want is against everything I believe in." Zaheer said as he stared at the papers.

"I know, but we have to. For P'li." Femke said as she placed a hand on her boyfriends arm, then smiled at me, which made Zaheer nod, then look at Femke, smiling.

"Shouldn't we keep the fake names we used to get in, Miss Fresh?" Zaheer teased as he smirked at Femke, who smirked back as she gave him a small push again. He wavered. I should remember that...

"Oh shut it Mister Fresh. I don't think they will relate back to the people at the gate who we are." Femke teased.

"But what if they do?" Zaheer asked as he looked at Femke worriedly.

"Then we have to bust ourselves in somehow. Whatever it costs, we have to get into the upper ring." Femke said with a determined face. This was the first time Femke was willing to use force to get in

"You sure that's a good idea? I thought you always said fighting is never the answer." Zaheer asked as he looked at her with shock.

"I know, but once we give up one name we can't easily change it with them standing by. That would be to suspicious and we need to get in." Femke said firmly, which made me look at her smiling, touched by her determination to get to the bottom of my origin at whatever cost needed.

"You're right. Maybe we best use our cover names and I tell them my last name became Fresh after i married." Zaheer smirked at Femke, who blushed in return.

 _'After all this ends and if we do survive, he might ask her. They're already so close.'_ I thought as I smiled at the sight of Femke and Zaheer being lovely together.

"If they don't buy it we can still beat someone up to get in." Ghazan said, which earned him a glare from both his older sister and Ming Hua.

"I think that fixes any problems that might come up. Now we have to think of one more thing." Tziza said. "If we pass the guards, how in the world are we going to find the right house? The upper ring is huge."

"Good point. The team that goes to fetch Ghazan's two remaining nieces has an easy job. I think Dahlia still knows to find the house but for P'li, what was the family sign again?" Femke asked as she looked at me sternly at which I shrugged

"Wait, it was in the letter." Femke said as she got a piece of paper from her pocket and looked it over.

"Of course." I said as I looked at her with a smile on my face as stood behind her and looked at the paper.

"I remember something about a sign being mentioned in the letter." Femke said as she started to read the letter out loud.

 _My dear P'li_

 _If you read this letter, it will mean you have returned to the place your story started._

 _I have wondered where you went of to from the day I got the message Mogui was killed and I was shocked to see your picture in the newspapers, saying you were arrested for attempting to murder the Avatar._

 _I hope that is all behind you now. I have a reason to leave this letter for you._

 _The people that left you with Mogui are not your biological parents._

 _Come and see me in Ba Sing Se's upper ring as soon as you can. You will be able to find the mansion as it has the same symbol on the front gate as you have on your forehead._

 _I will always be there for you if you need me and both Hong Lee and I wish you the best._

 _Miss Ti_

Femke finished the letter while I rubbed the tears from the corners of my eyes. I was so close. So close to both seeing Miss Ti again and find out about my true parents.

"Now we know what to look for." Femke said sternly as she painted the sign on another piece of paper and put it in her pocket before we nodded and gathered up our stuff before we headed to the gate that would bring us to the middle ring.

 _'I'm coming, Hong. Ti. I'm coming at last.'_ I thought as I watched the gate, hoping we were able to get through without any accidents so the truth about my past would finally be revealed.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And with that I declare that this chapter is at its end. I hope you all liked it. Sorry it took me a while to write it but I was also working on two other stories; one of which is a prequel to both The New Lotus and this story. Check it out if you like.

 **A/N:**

On advice of my Beta, I made Dahlia not take what happened too easy on Ghazan, since she does have a point. We see in the series how big the chaos is after the Death of the Earth Queen and many innocent people got either hurt or killed in the raids.

Femke can be rather forgetful so that's why she only now thinks about re-reading the letter for clues about the house they needed to find.

Okay that's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Also thank you paranoidgirl for being such a awesome beta reader and advisor, maybe check out her stuff?

 **Please leave a review.**


	18. Chapter 18: secrets revealed

Chapter 18: Secrets Revealed

 **Normal POV**

Without any accidents, the members of The Red Lotus managed to pass into the highest ring of Ba Sing Se, where they split up into two parties. One headed to get the nieces of Ghazan and the other went to look for the home of Miss Ti. As the two parties were searching they came past another house. One that had a sign of two sleeping badgermoles lying over one another at which Zaheer stopped and stared for a moment.

"Heer? What's wrong?" Femke asked as she came to stand next to her boyfriend and placed a hand on his shoulder. This made Zaheer look at her for a moment before he looked at the sign again.

"This is it, Femke. This is where I grew up." Zaheer stated as he looked at the sign above the door wistfully.

"Looks grand." Femke commented as she looked at the sign above the door sadly. "Maybe someday else we can go in. Meet your parents." Femke said, which made Zaheer look at her.

"No. I don't want to see them again." Zaheer said firmly as he looked at Femke. "I just know they will never accept. They're just too stuck in their rules and traditions."

"Too bad. If they weren't, they could see how much you have grown up and how happy Femke makes you." Xai Bau said as he came to stand next to us out of nowhere and placed a hand on Zaheer's shoulder, who looked at him, smiling in return.

"I'm afraid all what will happen if I go back in there is that I will be married off." Zaheer said, gazing at the gate of his old family home one last time before he turned around and started to walk away.

"Maybe. Who knows. Maybe they changed their minds about forced marriage after you ran away." Femke said as she turned away as well and followed Zaheer.

"That will never happen." Zaheer stated firmly. "Believe me, not all people can change." Zaheer said as he and Femke turned a corner before they joined P'li and the others in their search for P'li's family home.

Meanwhile, a guard ran into a big main room of a large house where a man and a woman were having tea.

"Excuse me for the interruption, my Lady, but we have just heard the most amazing news." The head guard said as he bowed before the pair, who looked at him coldly.

"And what might that be?" Alteressa Batu asked coldly.

"We have seen young master Zaheer standing before the gate. He was in the company of a young woman and the old man." The guard said with his head still down, as Alteressa gasped while her husband Shergon looked at him, shocked.

"Xai Bau is with our son?" He asked before he smiled, hoping this meant his son knew the family secret.

"Yes, Sir. He and the young woman discussed whether or not they should go in, then left after Master Zaheer said he didn't want to." The guard said.

"Why not?" Alteressa asked as she got up with an enraged look on her face. This made the man gulp.

"Because it seemed Master Zaheer fell in love with this young woman." The man said, which made Alteressa's eyes widen in horror.

"Well then. Let's meet this mystery woman. maybe she is…" Shergon started but was interrupted by his wife, who gave him a firm look.

"Shergon, he is not going to marry some random girl we don't know. Remember, we had an agreement..." Alteressa said firmly, before she turned to the guard.

"Find our son and bring him here. Make sure that girl doesn't follow you." Alteressa said, smirking before she turned to her left where a girl with red hair in a beautiful gown was sitting, unmoving as she had been following the discussion between Alteressa and the guard. "It seems you're going to be married after all, my dear Allerys."

Meanwhile, the group of Femke, Zaheer and Master Xai Bau had found the estate with the sign of the Combustion Bender on the front gate. All of them stared at the sign, knowing what was to come. Behind that door was Miss Ti and the answers to P'li's origin.

"This is it. Ready to go in?" Zaheer asked as he looked at P'li with a small smile. She nodded firmly as she walked to the gate with the Combustion Bender sign, taking a deep breath before she let the knocker fall on the door firmly.

 **P'li's POV**

"This is it. Ready to go in?" Zaheer asked as he looked at me with a small smile, causing me to nod firmly as I walked to the gate with the Combustion Bender sign on it, taking a deep breath before I let the knocker fall on the door firmly. After what seemed like forever, the door was unlocked and a young man with short raven black hair and piercing green eyes appeared in the doorway.

"What do you…?" He started to ask, but stopped when he saw me. _**"P'li? P'li! I can't believe it!"**_ The young man exclaimed and before I knew what was happening he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, causing Zaheer behind me to look at him with a raised eyebrow while Femke muffled her laughter.

"Glad to be here as well." I said a little awkwardly, not used to be hugged by a total stranger. He had something familiar in his eyes. Something I couldn't quite place.

"You don't recognize me?" The man asked as he looked at me with a sad face which made me back away from him a little more, observing him from this distance a little. The more I looked at him the more I had the feeling I knew him from somewhere but I just couldn't place were.

"No. But you look somewhat familiar." I slowly said as I took in every detail of his face, still not able to remember were I knew him from.

"I'm Chang, remember? Gan was my father." The man said. "You have seen me bring my dad's lunch every day. We even played together that one time before dad was killed." Chang said, which made my eyes widen in shock as I remembered.

" _Here is your lunch, dad. Mom put in some extra breads as you asked." The five year old Chang said as he handed over his father's lunch to him. Who smiled as he took it before he called me from out of a corner of the room were I had been playing since Mogui was out on one of his 'business trips' and took me in his lap, which caused Chang to back away._

 _"Thanks chang. You asked me last night why I wanted some extra breads, right?" Gan asked as he gently took me close before he handed me some of the breads. I was biting into them hungrily as Chang nodded. "This is the reason. P'li is a soldier here as well but unlike with your daddy our boss treats her very badly because of a special power she was born with." Gan explained as he stroked me over my head._

 _"But won't your master be mad if he finds out?" Chang asked, a little unsure._

 _"Maybe." Gan said as he sat down on the floor with me in his lap. "But that doesn't scare me because helping P'li here is the right thing to do. She is a human and she deserves to be treated like that, whatever others might say."_

 _"My friends at school say their all monsters." Chang said with his head down, which made me shiver and clutch to Gan, feeling afraid the young boy might hurt me because he thought I was a monster._

 _"I see. There's something I want you to try for me. Be a strong boy and come over here." Gan said as he patted his other knee. I saw Chang hesitating before he did as his father asked, sitting down in his father's lap, very close to me. "Now close your eyes." Gan instructed with a soft voice, which his son did._

 _"Mow I want you to tell me, what do you feel?" Gan asked as he placed a hand on the young boy's chest._

 _"My own heartbeat." Chang replied which made Gan nod and place the young boy's hand on his own chest._

 _"And now? What do you feel?" Gan asked smiling._

 _"Your heartbeat." The five year old smiled which made Gan nod and take his other hand, which he placed on my chest._

 _"Now, what do you feel through your other hand?" Gan asked as he let the boy open his eyes, looking up when he realized his hand was on my chest._

 _"Her heartbeat." Chang said as he looked at me._

 _"Do you feel any difference between her heartbeat and mine?" Gan asked._

 _"No." Chang answered._

 _"She's human just like everybody else." Gan said. "And those friends of yours should know better than to talk badly about all Combustion Benders." Gan said strictly. I looked at him in awe. This was the first time someone said that about me._

 _"Yes, dad. I'm sorry I said bad things about you, P'li." Chang said with his head down. I smiled at him._

 _"That's okay. A lot of people think that." I smiled before I offered him a piece of bread, which he took, smiling before we both started to eat. After the lunch we played together for what seemed like forever, giving me the amazing feeling I finally made a new friend. That one time would be the only time I saw him. Gan was killed by Mogui for helping me not long after that, making me feel more horrible and lonely than ever._

 **"Chang!"** I gasped, beaming at the young man standing before me happily.

"That was me." Chang smiled at me as he hugged me once again. "I'm so glad you're here. Miss Ti was worried something happened or that you weren't able to find the letter." The black haired boy smiled as we walked into the garden of the house, which was big and looked amazing. "After my dad was killed we moved to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. Soon after Miss Ti divorced from Mogui she invited me over and offered me a position as guard at her estate."

"Why did you take it?" I asked, not understanding he wanted to work for the wife of the man that killed his father.

"Because Miss Ti is the most amazing boss one can have. She doesn't ask too much of us, we get breaks often and she tells me things about my father which I really like since he died when I was very young and all." Chang said, turning his head to the side sadly.

"I know. I'm sorry about your father but you must know that what he did saved my life. Thanks to him I survived nine long years before my friends saved me." I smiled when I pointed to Femke, Zaheer and Master Zai Bau who were standing behind me. "Sorry. I just walk in without introducing them, Chang, these are my friends." I smiled. "Everyone, this is my old friend Chang."

"Sorta. But to me it counts." Chang smiled "Nice to meet you all. I'm glad to see P'li made more friends who respect her the way she is."

"Glad to meet you as well. It seems we owe your father a lot of thanks for keeping P'li alive long enough for us to realize she was there. We're sorry to hear your father died while trying to save your friend." Xai Bau said as he bowed to Chang, which Chang returned before he turned to me.

"Come on! Miss Ti is in the living room right now. She will be so excited to see you." Chang said as he led me by the hand to the living room, the others following behind us, wanting to hear the story. The living room was a traditional room with a lot of things in it, including two thrones where the heads of the house sat. In one of the chairs I recognized Miss Ti, who was still looking the same as I remembered her but her black hair had turned grey.

"I'll go in first, wait here." Chang said as he stopped around the corner of the living room at which we all nodded before Chang went in. "Miss Ti, there are some visitors that would like to see you." Chang announced with a loud voice, after I heard he gave a bow.

"We didn't expect any…" Miss Ti started but stopped when she seemed to realize something. "She came, didn't she?" She asked, trembling with emotion.

"She did, ma'am. She's waiting outside the door." Chang replied before he signed to us that we could come in, which I did. As soon as Miss Ti recognized me her eyes filled with tears, clamping her hands over her mouth before she ran towards me and before I knew what hit me I was in her arms, softly sobbing as she gently took hold of me. Her touch brought back all my memories of her. Memories filled with joy, laughter and hope.

"People in this house like their hugs." Zaheer commented, which earned him a playful prod from his girlfriend.

" _When I was young, I didn't had to try that."_ Zaheer muttered, which made me giggle a little.

"P'li. My little P'li. You've grown." Miss Ti smiled after a moment as she let go of me.

"Miss Ti. After that one horrible day I thought I would never see you again." I sobbed. After the divorce between Miss Ti and Mogui I had never thought I would see her again and now almost thirty years later I was standing face to face with her again.

"Me neither my dear. But I never gave up hope. After I heard Mogui was murdered I went to the house and placed down that note in the hope that you would find it and come look for me." Miss Ti smiled as she stroked a hair from my face. "And now you're finally here. I can finally reveal the truth about your past." Miss Ti smiled as she hugged me once more.

"I was shocked to read that the people that abandoned me with your late husband weren't my real parents." I said with a smile on Femke, who nodded.

"I can see why. They were told by Mogui to never tell you the truth about your past. Just like how he forced me to keep the truth from you." Miss Ti said as she looked at me sadly. "Please try to understand that I couldn't tell because if I had and you tried to escape because of that, he would have hurt Hong."

"I understand and I'm happy to hear the truth at long last." I smiled as we all sat down, jumping to our feet as we heard a lot of noise coming from the back off the house, followed by thumping footsteps and before I knew what was going on I was lifted into the air by a boy that looked slightly younger then me and reminded me a little too much of Mogui.

 _ **"Li! Li! I can't believe you're here! I can't believe you actually found our note! "**_ The young man exclaimed happily as he held me close, which made me smile a little as I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'm glad to see you as well, Hong." I smiled, happy to see the first friend I ever made. "You might want to put me down now." I joked, which made Hong look at me smiling before he put me down.

 _"Sorry."_ He muttered before he stepped backwards to give me some room.

"It was Femke here who found the note together with Zaheer and Xai Bau." I smiled as I pointed at my three friends. "I also had to deal with your father's ghost." I said which made both Miss Ti and Hong look at me with widened eyes.

"How in the world did he…." Miss Ti asked.

"I don't know for sure but he managed to lock us in some dream world where he had a lot of children, all combustion benders, under his command. He tried to drill us into good obedient weapons, but my friend Femke and I managed to escape in the nick of time with the use of our fairy powers." I explained before I crossed my arms in the V sign, which transformed me into my new Enchantix form which made Miss Ti gasp.

"You look beautiful. I never knew that kind of magic truly existed." Miss Ti said.

"I always thought they were just part of the fairy tales mom used to tell me." Hong said.

"Watch it, you begged me for those stories each night before going to bed." Miss Ti said with a teasing smile on her face.

"To return to the reason were here. Miss Ti, who are my real parents?" I asked, which made Miss Ti smile a little.

"Your mother, your birth mother was a young woman who was born in the upper ring." Miss Ti said as we all sat down. "She led life of privilege but she always longed to marry out of love but her parents told her this was impossible."

 _"Figures."_ I heard zaheer mutter behind me.

"At the age of sixteen she ran away to see the lower part of the city were she met your father and the two fell in love instantly." Miss Ti smiled. "Once home she requested to marry him, But they refused, telling her the son of a very wealthy warlord would soon arrive, who was a perfect suitor for her."

 _Mogui? Could that mean…?_

A thought ran through my head as I looked at Ti, shocked.

"The girl didn't agree and ran away again. This time with the plan to elope." Miss Ti smiled as she said this while Hong behind me looked at his mother smirking.

"Far away from everything they secretly got married and three months afterwards your mother found out she was pregnant with you. Your real parents were so happy because of this. They couldn't wait until you were there, but…" Ti stopped for a moment and closed her eyes.

"But after five months of living a happy life they were found by your mother's parents, who forced her to divorce from the man she loved to marry the man they wanted her to marry but she refused, telling them she loved the other man and that her pregnancy was a blessing on their marriage."

"I bet they didn't took that well." Femke commented.

"Not at all. They told her that if she didn't divorce from your father at once he would be killed on the account of kidnapping her even though she came with him willingly. They would cover up any tracks of it being a murder afterwards." Ti said, which made Femke look up shocked.

"Wait, that's _**possible**_ here?" Femke asked gasping.

"To think otherwise would be naïve. The wealthy can easily persuade the officials to cover up involvement in certain things to save face." Zaheer said, which made Femke gasp in shock.

"Horrible that these things can be done without anyone doing something about it." Femke said, tears in the corners of her eyes as she said this.

"With pain in her heart she signed the divorce papers. All to save him. This left one problem; his child." Miss Ti said. "Your mother begged to tell everyone they adopted you in order to keep the child with them but her fianceè didn't want to hear it. After it was born she had to give her newborn daughter up for adoption." Miss Ti finished her story.

"Your father was also a Combustion Bender. He is a grandson of Laniban." Ti smiled. "He told me you were the third generation born with the gift, which for him had turned into a curse after your great grandfather was beaten by the first Avatar."

"Why do you know all this? Are you…?" Zaheer started, looking at Miss Ti in surprise, who looked at me with tears in her eyes before she nodded.

"Yes. I'm that woman. P'li, you found your mother, your half brother and your home." Miss Ti said.

 _"You're my…"_ I stammered, unable to believe this was really happening. Miss Ti was my mother and I was home.

"Yes P'li, I'm your mother. Mogui made me promise to never reveal this when he was still alive but now he is dead I don't fear him anymore." Miss Ti smiled with tears in her eyes as she held me close.

"Wait, how do you know for sure she is your daughter? She was so young when you gave her up." Femke asked, distrust in her voice.

"Because she has lived so close by for nine long years. A mother just knows."

 _ **"Mother!**_ " I cried as I wrapped my arms around her and for the first time since I was a little girl, Miss Ti wrapped her arms around me and held me close as we were both in tears.

"I heard cries. What is going…?" A man with black hair and a bandana around his head asked as he entered the room, stopping in the middle of his line when his eyes fell on me.

 _"No way."_ He whispered as he looked at me with shock, before he very slowly, very carefully took off his bandana, revealing the third eye tattoo on his forehead, making my eyes fill with tears again.

"P'li. My little P'li." The man said as he walked towards me kneeling down by my side before he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me as he sobbed softly.

"I finally found my way home." I smiled as I wrapped my arms around him as well, soon followed by Hong and Miss Ti, which caused me to cry as well, thanking whatever deity listening out there as I did so. I had my family back.

 **Normal POV**

Meanwhile, Ghazan, Ming Hua, Tziza and Ghazan's sister and niece had found the estate of Dahlia's ex-husband as well and just let the knocker fall on the door after which a tall guard opened the gate.

"We want to see the head of the house about a private matter. _**Now.**_ " Ghazan said firmly, putting his feet between the door when he saw the guard was trying to lock the gate again.

"What makes you so important that you can visit Master Shu unannounced?" The man asked with a sneer on his face, which caused Ming Hua to almost attack him, but was stopped.

"Because I'm the uncle of his daughters." Ghazan said firmly, which made the man look up at him before he hurried off, returning not long afterwards with a man who wore expensive looking robes.

"So you have returned. With your sister and youngest niece, too." The man said, looking at the young child with a look of disapproval while she beamed at him and reached towards her, in her young mind not seeing that her father didn't wanted anything to do with her.

 _ **"Daddy!"**_ The young child said and before any of the former Red Lotus members could grab her, she had ran over to her father and hugged his knee, making the older man looked down at her with pure disgust on his face.

 _ **"Get off!"**_ the man said as he shook his leg wildly to get the five year old child away from him, who now looked at him with tears in her eyes as her mother scooped her up and rocked her to calm her down.

"You didn't have to do that. She is also _**your** _ daughter." Dahlia said sharply..

"She _**isn't!** _ I only have a son from my new wife, who obeys me and managed to produce a heir." The man smirked, which made Dahlia turn pale.

"You never loved me. You were planning on kicking me out all along. All you wanted was a heir for your fortune." Dahlia said, tears streaming over her face as she realized he had used her and that she had abandoned her brother for this man.

"Do you really think with my status I would marry a beggar girl I picked from the streets?" The man said while Ghazan took his sister around the waist as she was close to crying. "All I needed was a son and heir."

"Told you that man wasn't worth trusting." Ghazan said while Dahlia looked down sadly.

"I'm just inches away from just slapping you silly." Ming hua growled as she looked at the man firmly.

"You don't frighten me." the man replied.

"you should. We kinda almost destroyed the world." Ghazan said, at which everyone gave him an angry look, since they all knew it could be dangerous to tell this man their real identity.

"Not any more. All we want is to help Dahlia to see her two oldest daughters again, then be on our way." Tziza said as she gave Ghazan a firm look.

"No. Those two are staying with me to make up for everything Dahlia cost me." The man said as he looked at the group firmly.

"They've been staying with you for about fifteen or sixteen years." Tziza said calmly. "Which means her debt has been paid of by now so the girls can come home with their mother."

"If not, well, we're not going to be pleasant." Ghazan said.

"You claim you changed and yet you're threatening my life to get what you want?" The man said as a few guards started to surround the group now.

"We just want the two girls. We're not going to use force unless you leave us no other choice." Tziza said calmly as she looked at the guards with narrowed eyes. "Ghazan is just worried for the well being of his nieces."

"They're _**not**_ leaving." The man said, as he snapped his fingers, at which a man who carried a bow, shot an arrow at Dahlia's head.

 _ **"Dahlia!"**_ Ghazan exclaimed, not hesitating one moment, he lept in between his sister and the danger, catching the full blow of the attack.

" _ **Ghazan!**_ _ **"**_ Dahlia gasped as she knelt down where he laid, looking down at him sadly.

 ** _"Fool_**. He wanted to protect you and now he'll die himself. He was indeed as foolish as he looked." The once-husband said.

 _"Ghazan."_ Dahlia muttered as she looked down at her brother sadly, a tear sliding down her cheek as she thought her brother would most likely die because of her.

Suddenly, as the tear hit Ghazan's chest a brilliant light started to glow.

 _ **"What?"** _ Dahlia gasped as she looked up at the light with shock while the others smiled.

"Enchantix. Just like with P'li." Ming Hua smirked as Tziza looked at the light with shock. When the light cleared Ghazan had a pair of brilliant red and orange wings on his back, while his clothes were a mixture of green and yellow.

"Amazing." Tziza smiled as she saw Ghazan's fairy form, Dahlia's former husband was just surprise.

 _ **"I look awesome!"**_ Ghazan cheered before flying up to the guards.

"You're going to get my nieces right now or I will kick your ass to the moon and back." Ghazan said, smirking at Ming Hua as he did so. She used to say that to him a lot when they were younger.

"Do you seriously believe I'm intimidated by a pair of wings and a new wardrobe?" The man laughed nervously as he took a step backwards. "Those girls are _**mine**_! Now _**go away**_!" The man said, and before any of them could say a thing the man ran inside his house, the guards quickly following and slammed the door shut in their faces.

Now what?" Ghazan asked as he looked at the gate.

"We could call the police ourselves and try to explain what happened." Tziza said as she looked at the gate.

"That will work. We're wanted people, remember?" Ghazan said as he rolled his eyes.

"We should go and see if we can find Femke and the others." He said as he flapped his wings a little. " Maybe Femke or Zaheer have a better plan."

"First smart remark I heard from you in ages." Ming Hua commented as she and the other started to walk off.

"Does anyone remember the family sign?" Ghazan asked after a while.

"Are you even serious about this?" Ming Hua said as she took a piece of paper and drew the sign on it, using Tziza's back as a surface.

"Here! Make yourself useful and look for this sign from out of the air." Ming Hua said as she handed Ghazan the paper, who saluted before he flew off, returning a moment later.

 _ **"Found it!**_ And you might want to hurry up. I saw some soldiers go to the mansion." Ghazan said as he pointed out the way.

 _ **"Let's go!"** _ Ming Hua said sternly before she ran after Ghazan to the mansion. Ghazan flew over to the mansion fast and looked from above as the man in the front walked to the gate and firmly knocked on the door of the gate.

 _ **With P'li**_

I was just listening to my father's story about Laniban, who was his grandfather, when suddenly someone knocked on the door, which made us look up while a guard walked to the door to open up.

"Its okay P'li. Certain visitors tend to knock like that." Lee said as he tied the bandana around his head again as a guard headed to open the door, after which Zaheer gasped as he recognized a few off his mother's guards standing in the doorway.

"Zaheer, you're coming with us." The leader said as he walked to the older airbender with a stern look on his face, while Zaheer looked at Femke calmly.

 _ **"No."**_ Zaheer stated as he took a step away from the man, spreading his arms wide to protect Femke and P'li.

"Please, Sir. Don't be stubborn. Your mother only wants what's best for you. Just do as she says and you will be fine." The head of the guards said as he walked a little more towards Zaheer, who kept backing away until he was standing with his back against the wall.

"Why would I? I have everything I desire now. The freedom to be who I want to be and to marry whoever I choose." Zaheer said, looking at Femke as he said this, who blushed a little at the idea.

"Zaheer, when will you accept those are just the rules?" The man said sternly.

"Can you _**honestly** _ say you're happy with those rules?" Zaheer asked.

"You can't marry whoever you choose, you need to live by all those rules is that really what you want?"

"It is how it is. I accepted that long ago. You should as well and just do as your mother says." The man said sternly.

"And you're happy like that? With all those rules surrounding you? Forcing you to behave perfectly?" Zaheer asked him.

"Yes. That's how life _**works.**_ You don't always gets what you want. I accepted that things are how they are and it is about time you grew up and did the same." The man said sternly. "This is the role life chose for me. There is nothing I can do about it running away from it only makes accepting harder."

"Open your eyes to the truth. I know I made a few mistake." Zaheer admitted with a small smile to Femke, who nodded in encouragement. "But I also learned a lot. Freedom to make choices comes with a responsibility. I understand now."

"Killing the Earth Queen and causing the Kingdom to fall into chaos was horrific. Do you know how much of us got injured and killed to keep things in order?" One of the guards standing in the back said, who had a bad looking scar threw his right eye, Zaheer was certain hadn't been there when he had left the mansion as a teenager.

"Yes. I now know. The sister of my best friend told us what happened here after we took down the wall and I'm sorry for the trouble I must have caused." Zaheer said as he looked down in shame.

"That's putting it lightly." The man with the scar added as he pointed at the scar on his face.

" _ **At least you're still alive."** _ One of the soldiers in the back called. _**"We lost three colleagues to that mess!"**_

"That life is behind me. Tell mother i might come to visit someday but for now I need to focus on saving the world along with Femke and the others." Zaheer smiled, wrapping his arm lovingly around Femke. "We happen to be fairies."

 **"And you _really_ believe that?"** A female voice called in the back, making all man step to the side and salute after which Alteressa appeared in the middle, smirking as she walked towards her son, who looked worriedly from her to Femke.

 **Zaheer's POV**

"Mother. What a pleasant surprise." I stammered, shocked as I looked from my mother to Femke, who was looking at my mother with widened eyes, unable to believe she was here. I had to admit i was quite shocked she came as well. It was very unusual for her to come when she sends her soldiers to a job.

"Are you really as naive as to believe in fairy tales?" She asked, laughing a little afterwards.

"I believe in them since I have seen them." I stated firmly, smiling at Femke as i said this, who smiled at me in return.

"Show me, then." My mother demanded, and just as I wanted to tell her Femke could transform as proof, a rustling sound was heard after which two fairies appeared. One I recognized as Ming Hua but only when the second one got closer I recognized Ghazan, whose fairy form had been slightly altered as a sign he now got his Enchantix powers as well.

 _So Ghazan got his Enchantix, just like P'li._

I smiled when I saw Ghazan and Ming Hua land before they moved their shoulders back which caused them to change back into their normal form.

 _ **"See?"**_ I smirked as I turned to my mother, who looked at my two friends with a look of pure disbelief, unable to comprehend that she had just seen real life fairies. "Fairies _**exist**_. And I am one of them. Femke and I have been preparing to repel an attack of an evil being ever since the whole Red Lotus chapter was closed and I got out of jail." I said sternly.

"Illegally while impersonating me and your father." My Mother said with a stern look. _How did she know?_

"The order of the White Lotus sent me a messenger hawk to keep an eye out for you and report if you would return home." Alteressa smirked as she took a step towards me. "You still have to pay for your crimes."

"But I changed and together with my friends…" I said, smiling as I looked at them with a small smile. "I have been started to change things for the better. Preparing to get rid of the evil that could destroy all worlds." I said, looking at Femke with a small smile, who nodded to confirm my words.

"Your _**girl**_ friend?" My mother asked as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Since when does a proper gentleman have a girlfriend while he is engaged?" She asked, which made me look at her with widen eyes, while Femke looked at me shocked.

"What does she mean?" Femke asked, looking at me with eyes full of hurt. The look I hated to see on her so much.

"Didn't he tell you?" My mother asked Femke, looking at her with fake surprise. Your boyfriend has been deceiving you. At age five he was engaged to a fine young woman named Allerys who is from a rich family we know. She is the one he will marry and absolutely not some tart who doesn't even know how to dress herself." My mom said firmly, at which I saw Femke tear up and before I could say anything to her she had ran off, quickly followed by P'li.

"With that out of the way, you're going to come home and be married as planned." My mother said as she held out her arm towards me. "And in exchange I will not tell the White Lotus you're here." _She was willing to defy the White Lotus and lie about my whereabouts just to get me to marry the one she wanted me to marry? That was so messed up. I wasn't even considering_ _her offer. I loved femke and no one else!_

" _ **Never.**_ I would rather turn myself in then to marry her!" I said before I used my airbending to quickly leap over her and run after Femke and P'li, finding them in a corner of the garden.

"The White Lotus can be here any second! We have to get out of here before… " I started, but stopped when I saw how Femke and P'li were looking at me.

"Does it matter? You can just go and get married to someone else." Femke asked me bitterly.

"No, because she is not the one I _**choose**_ to marry. My mother chose her for me." I said as I looked at Femke with widened eyes, unable to believe that she was so mad at me while she knew I ran off to avoid forced marriage. Maybe she already forgot, seeing how forgetful she could be when she wanted to.

"This is exactly why i wanted to get away. I wanted to fall in love before marrying, not get married off to the first person my mother felt fitting for me." I said as I sat down with the two women and took Femke's hands in my own.

"What you told me after that Platypus Bear attacked us, that was why you ran off? Because of Allerys?" Femke asked shocked, which made P'li look at Femke.

 ** _"He told you?"_** P'li asked Femke with a look of surprise.

"Of course. But it was not like I had another choice at that point, since she entrusted me with the secret of her being a princess." I smiled at Femke, who smiled back. "Besides, if i go back I will lose most of my freedom." I smirked a little as i said this, which caused Femke to return it.

"She is pretty though." Femke said jokingly.

"She's not my type. I don't like it when people are demure, I'd rather have them be free." Zaheer smiled as he scooted close and wrapped his arms around P'li and me.

"Why didn't you tell me when we were still together?" P'li asked.

"Me being engaged against my will wouldn't add up unless..." I started, looking up when Ming Hua and Ghazan walked to us, as well as Xai Bau and Tziza.

"Unless you were from a rich family. But that would kinda make you sound like a hypocrite, right?" Ghazan finished my line.

"Seriously? Now is not the time." Ming Hua asked as she looked at the Lavabender sternly.

"But it's true." Ghazan said. "Not that it matters anymore."

"Anyway…" I said as I looked at Femke with a small smile. "We should get out of here before the White Lotus turns up." I said, as Femke nodded.

"Little late to think about that." Ghazan said, which made us all look up. We were surrounded.

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED**_

Thanks Paranoidgirl for beta reading and advising on the story so far

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	19. Chapter 19: friends and enemies

Chapter 19: Friends and Enemies

 **Normal POV**

"Well. This sucks." Ghazan said.

"Let's transform! _**Enchantix voortrix!"** _ Femke called, at which all the others crossed their arms, making the White Lotus members gasp as the Red Lotus members stood before them in fairy clothes. Three Enchantix fairies and two normal fairies. "That should level the playing field." Femke smirked while she flapped her wings a little as the Red Lotus founder and the second in command got their weapons.

 **Femke's POV**

"That should level the playing field." I smirked while I flapped my wings a little. As I did this I felt the Red Lotus founder and the second-in-command got their weapons as well, ready to fight.

"Threatening us? You claimed you all changed." The White Lotus leader, who was standing in the front said mockingly.

"It's not like you're giving us another choice." I said boldly as I got in front of my friends, willing to do whatever it took to defend them.

"Just stand down and surrender yourself, then no one will get hurt." The front man said.

"While an even bigger threat comes our way?" I said as I gave Zaheer a stern look, then shook my head to let him know we shouldn't be the first to attack. I wanted to see if I could reason with them first.

"A bigger threat?" The man said with a mocking grin "You really think we will believe that after what you pulled?" The man challenged.

"There is a threat bigger than us. Lord Darkar; the Shadow Phoenix." I said, a shiver going down my spine at the very mention of that monster's name.

"Never heard of him." The man said.

"That's because he is from Magix." I said and folded my arms before my chest. "But I can assure you he is as real and if we're not ready to take him on by the time he finds a way to get into this dimension you and your people will be screwed." I said angrily.

"Femke is right." Zaheer said as he came to stand next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder "I know what I did was wrong and in the spirit world I promised Avatar Korra I changed and wouldn't cause chaos again. I intend to keep my word." I smiled at Zaheer proudly as he stated this.

"So why don't you do as you're told? This would help matters for you and your merry band." Alteressa said as she stepped to the front and looked at Zaheer firmly.

"No. Mother, I might have left the path of anarchy behind me but I still have a own point of view and a free will." Zaheer said sternly, before he turned to Allerys, who was also there, obediently following Alteressa. "I'm sure you're an amazing woman but I can't see us being together."

"That's quite alright. I never wanted to be married to someone I didn't know either." Allerys smiled as she walked to Zaheer. "We're not really a match. I'm more comfortable around calm, collected people."

"You should meet my half brother Tarrlok." I half-jokingly said.

"Tarrlok Arrai? Son of Yakone the Bloodbender?" Allerys asked me with shocked look "He is your half brother?"

"How do you know him?" I asked a little shocked.

"We studied at the same university. He was kind of nice actually. We really connected." She blushed a little at the last statement.

"Nothing like a school romance." Ghazan mentioned.

"A bit. I was young. Barely sixteen, never fell in love before. It felt alien yet great." I smiled when she said this, remembering the first time I had fallen in love and all the great times that followed after this until Daniel's untimely death.

"Why didn't you elope? You two could still be together and he might have not tried to take over the city." Zaheer asked.

"I didn't want to disappoint my parents. I am their only child." Allerys admitted while looking down.

"Way to put that burden on an innocent's shoulder." Ghazan said, making both his sister and Ming Hua gave him a firm look. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Anyway..." Zaheer smiled as he took to mind Ghazan's words. He was sort of right. Saying a girl was responsible for a man's action because she didn't date him sounded sort of bad once he taught it through. "I found true love, Allerys. I think it's about time you did the same."

"Zaheer?" Allerys looked at her supposed fiancee shocked before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you think it might still work?"

"There's always hope." I said with a smile as I walked to her and placed a hand on her arm, which one of the White Lotus guards must have mistaken for a threat because there was a flash of fire.

 _ **"Femke! Allerys! NO!"**_ I heard Zaheer call before I felt his strong arms around me after which i heard a _'thud'_ sound and when I looked up Zaheer was lying on the floor a few feet from where I was, not moving.

 _"Zaheer?"_ Allerys whispered as she walked to him and placed a hand on his side and looked at him sadly while I bended the fire around us since more of the soldiers were attacking us now.

" _ **There's too many of them."**_ I called as I ran over to Allerys who looked down at Zaheer sadly, which made my eyes widen in shock, knowing what that meant.

 _"Zaheer. No..."_ Shot through me as tears welled up in my eyes and the same happened to Allerys. As our combined tears hit Zaheer's chest, a bright light appeared, which made me look up with a smirk on my face, while Allerys didn't quite understand.

"Enchantix." Ghazan smirked as he saw the light as well.

"Just like with us." P'li said as she looked at Ghazan happily.

 _ **"Zaheer!"** _ I looked up when I heard the father of Zaheer call his son and saw that he was standing next to me and looked at his son with widened eyes as the light cleared and Zaheers new enchantix form was revealed. It was a beautiful gray top and skirt and shining silver wings, al with the airbender sign on it. "My little boy. All grown up." He smiled, looking up when Xai Bau placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Its time. Wouldn't you say?" The Red Lotus leader said as he nodded to him, which let me to look at the two men with confusion, not understanding what they were talking about.

"Yes. He's old enough." I heard the other man reply as I was defending them with my earthbending , trying to keep the enemies at bay as Zaheer was blasting as many of them away as he could from the air.

 _ **"Femke, wait!"**_ A voice called out of nowhere when I was about to pull out a smoke bomb to escape fast. I stopped in the middle of my motion. I recognized that voice.

 _"Opal?"_

"Why are you doing this?" Opal asked me as she got to the front row and looked at me sternly. "You know that what they did. Why are you helping them escape?"

"Because I want to protect them. They changed. Please believe me, Opal." I said sternly. I hated to use that tone to my darling great granddaughter. I just had to help them stay safe. I deeply cared for them and I wanted nothing more then to stay by their side.

"You were about to attack. How did they change if they still favour violence over talking first?" Opal asked as she pointing to Ghazan and the others.

"We were going to teleport away. We don't want to fight unless you leave us no choice." I said defensively. "Didn't Korra tell you what I told her in the spirit world?"

"She did, but she was very sceptical at you keeping your word." Opal said as she folded her arms. "So when I heard you were here I decided to join the White Lotus and see you."

"We just wanted to go, anyway." I said as I raised my arms in the air.

"No. Femke, please... please come back. Mom is so worried for you. So are Kya, Bumi and the airbender kids." Opal said as she took another step towards me and reached for me with her hand. "Please come back with us."

"I'm sorry, Opal. I can't. I have to see this through to the end. The many dimensions there are depend on the Voortrix." I said as I looked at Opal's hand sadly. "Please understand. This is what I chose to do."

"The fate of many galaxies depend on you? What do you mean with that?" Opal asked as she looked at me, incredulous. "You're not Korra. It's not your duty to protect this world."

"That's true. Korra is responsible for this world but I am responsible for all worlds. The Magix and the Earth dimensions aren't the only three dimensions existing. There are many more and all of them depend of the eleven Voortrix fairies to save the people from Lord Darkar's reign of terror." I explained while I got my Voortrix medallion from under my shirt and showed it to Opal. "That's why i came back here. It's my destiny"

"And them?" Opal asked as she nodded to my friends

"They're Voortrix fairies as well. We need to stick together to be able to save the worlds."I said, taking a step away from Opal with tears in my eyes, hoping she would understand that I had to go through with this at all costs.

"And that makes what they did okay!?" Opal asked me as she looked at me firmly. "That takes away what they did to my country?! To Korra?!" Opal asked me a she looked at me with a hurt look in her eyes, which made me want to run to her and take her in my arms to never let go. But I knew I couldn't do that right now. Not with so much on the line. Not with Darkar on our trail.

"Opal. That's all in the past. Darkar, the force of pure evil I was talking about can come any day now and I want to be prepared for that." I said as I looked at her sternly.

"Does that make everything what they did all right all of a sudden?" Opal asked me firmly.

"Because we have the remainder of the Voortrix inside us! And we're responsible for protecting it!" I said, desperate.

"Wait, why would he want your powers? Are they stolen?" Opal asked me, a bit confused.

"No, it was more the other way around." I responded with a deadpan look.

"How come you know so sure?" Opal asked me with a challenging voice now.

" _ **Because we were the ones that created him, alright?!"**_ I bellowed, clapping my hands over my mouth in shock after.

 _"What?"_ opal asked me as she looked at me with a shocked face.

"We created Darkar. Inne, Deoxis, Selvia, Zedinia, Tarno, Norato, Talina and me. In a pointless effort to protect our village Voorfield from harm back in the day." I said, calmer now. "But it failed and the Paladin we wanted to create to protect our village at all costs if we were not there turned into Lord Darkar."

"So that's why you want to stop it at all costs." Opal realized.

"Yes. We were the ones that created him so we are responsible for stopping him." I said, nodding to Zaheer, who nodded back in an encouraging way.

"And how do you know they're not going back to their old ways?" Opal asked me, bringing it back around. "You know what they did. To Korra. To my family. My people."

"I know. I was there and even if I don't agree with the murders they committed I did stay true to myself." I said. "How do you think your aunt Lin came out of Laghima's peak unharmed?"

"What do you mean?" Opal asked me, at which I took a deep breath, before I gently moved down my shirt a little, revealing the spiral formed scar on my shoulder at which Opal looked confused.

"I could have prevented this. I could just bend the metal from P'li's head but then she would have blown your aunt to pieces." i said with a deadly serious glance in my eyes. "But I didn't. It didn't cross my mind once to allow that to happen."

"You saved both at the risk of yourself" My smart great granddaughter realized.

"I did. You know why?" I asked, at which Opal shook her head. "Because Lin is still family. And family sticks together even when things get rough."

 _"Grandma."_ Opal teared up when I said this.

"And that's why I trust them." I smiler as I nodded to Zaheer and the others "Because they're family to me and I just know they're not going to betray my trust." I said, looking at my friends with a small smile. "I know what they have been through. They told me. Jinora was right about that but I promised them I wouldn't tell anyone else." I said as I looked in Opal's eyes.. "And I want to keep that promise. Anyway, my point is that because I know each has had their own struggles and that let them to do what they did. I also know that that fight is in the past now. They changed, Opal. They really did." I said.

 **Opal's POV**

"I just know." Femke said, looking at her friends with a small smile. "I know what they have been through. They told me. Jinora was right about that but I promised them I wouldn't tell anyone else." I doubted those criminals would ever change. They were too far gone and did too much. I had to convince Femke of that before It was too late "And I want to keep that promise. Anyway, my point is that because I know each has had their own struggles and that let them to do what they did. I also know that that fight is in the past now. They changed, Opal. They really did." Femke said, looking me deep in my eyes as she spoke. Her eyes were so full of hope that for a moment I started to doubt myself. was I really trying to get her back because I distrusted these people or was it just because I wanted her back?

 _She looks so happy with them._

I thought as I looked at Femke and Zaheer, the older man beaming brightly as he was mouthing a ' _Thank you'_ to Femke, who beamed back at him.

 _If she is really trusting them and they were to betray her she would never be able to trust anyone ever again._

"Even when you can't tell what happened, they could." I said, nodding to Zaheer and the others.

"How will you know we're not lying?" Zaheer asked me as he looked at me, challenging. "To you we're nothing but criminals who took your great grandma away from you, right?" Zaheer asked me.

"Maybe I should listen. That said, a sad past doesn't mean that suddenly what you do is okay." I said, looking at Femke critically, who nodded and motioned me to keep talking. "If Femke indeed already knows she would most likely tell me if you hadn't changed." I said, looking at Femke smiling a little, who nodded in returned, then shrugged at her friends.

"What? I would have." Femke said with a smirk on her face, at which Zaheer nodded.

"If that's what's needed to convince her we're telling the full truth." Zaheer said, giving Femke a stern look as she was making a mocking sign behind her friends back.

"Life was never easy before the Red Lotus came to get me. All because of Mogui. He bought me at age five from my supposed parents, who were happy to be rid of me. I barely remember what they were like. All I remember is that they shook me off their arm, accepted the money and walked away." P'li started. "I still bear the scars from his treatment like my terror of thunderstorms."

"Wait, Femke said that was her screaming." I said sternly, which made my great grandmother turn red. " _ **You knew? You knew they were in Zhaofu and you didn't warned us?!"**_

"They didn't seem like bad people to me and they still don"t." Femke replied.

"Let's put an end to this pity party. We have work to do." One of the White Lotus guards said and tossed some fire at Femke, who catched the blaze with ease and moved it around her and P'li as she brought it to a halt.

 _She is a lot more powerful then she used to be_

I thought as I watched Femke fend off the attacks coming her way. She wasn't trying to retaliate. She was trying to protect the ones she loved.

"You okay?" Femke asked Zaheer when he was launched against a tree during the fight.

"I'm fine." The older airbender said as he gave his friend a good humored smile. This was new for me.

"Why are there so many of them?" Their lavabender named Ghazan said as he made a lava star and whirled it around them to keep the White Lotus guards away.

"Whatever the case, we shouldn't try to hurt them. We mean them no harm." Femke said as she helped Zaheer stand up. _"We just need to outsmart them."_ I heard her whisper as she looked around.

 _I wonder what she'll come up with._

I thought while watching Femke look at me for a moment then nodded at a loose tree branch above us before she made a small sign with her hands like she was about to bend. After that she looked into my eyes sternly. She was asking me to bend the branch down as a distraction so they could get away.

 _I can't do that… people might get hurt_

I thought as I looked at the branch. It was rather big and heavy, people could get hurt if that thing fell.

 _But I have to do something..._

I thought while watching as the White Lotus guards close in on the group. Just as someone of the guards wanted to handcuff them, a slide of earth made them all topple over, which made both Femke and me look up in surprise.

 _ **"What are you waiting for? Get out!"**_ The voice of Toph called as she appeared from behind a tree, which made Femke quickly pulled herself together and helped Zaheer stand before the Red Lotus gang disappeared in a flash.

"Grandma. Why did you help them escape?" I asked my grandmother. One one hand I was glad to see her and glad that she had helped Femke escape but on the other it helped the Red Lotus escape as well. They were wanted fugitives. They nearly killed her daughters. Shouldn't grandma have stopped them from escaping?

"Because they have a role to play in this world." Grandma said as she smiled at me sadly. "Femke is the Voortrix leader and those others are her fellow members. If she trusts them we should trust her."

"After all they have done to the world?" I asked her, shocked. "After all they have done to our family?"

"What they have done was wrong but their intentions were good. They were out of balance and that's why they took their ideology too far." Grandma Toph said as she turned to the place were the red lotus crew had disappeared from. "But I really think they found back that balance when they met Femke. Just like she did all those years ago."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean that Her and Zuko were close friends even before she met us and believe it or not but those two were good buddies even though he wanted to capture Aang at first." Grandma said. "She didn't agree with what Zuko was doing but she believed that he had potential to change and kept up with being friendly to him even if Katara was suspicious of him at first when he had just joined us."

"Bet katara wasn't to happy about it." I smiled as I looked at her.

"She wasn't but she left Femke to do as she pleased, feeling she had to do this if she believed he changed and learn from it if she turned out to be wrong."

"But she was right. He changed." I said with a small smile on my face, remembering how Zuko had been Aang's Firebender teacher.

"After he saved us from Combustion Man he joined us and in time even Katara learned to accept him as one of us." Grandma smiled. "But instead of telling Katara _'I told you so'_ like I thought she would have, she stayed calm and quiet. Let Katara's apology come naturally. Second chances are rare to come by these days." With these last words grandma grabbed my shoulder firmly. "Femke's still willing to give it a shot, though."

"It is going to be tough for everyone to forgive them for all they have done." I remarked sharply "Especially the ones they hurt."

"Maybe. If anything, just remember that forgiveness isn't something that's owed. And that the choice lies with the ones hurt." Toph smiled. "They managed to forgive Zuko and he had almost destroyed Aang a few times. So who knows?"

"P'li just told her story." I said.

"Me too. I'm blind, not deaf." Grandma smirked as she took me by hand into the garden. "I was listening in on the story from behind that tree."

"It's a sad story." I said as i looked down.

"Because I say it you believe her." Toph asked me sternly.

"Yes." I answered.

"Why?" Toph asked.

"Because I trust you." I answered.

"What makes it you don't trust Femke?" Toph remarked.

"Because her trust almost got Korra killed. Bowing out at the last second or not, she still has some responsibility in that." I answered.

"That being said, she's not the enemy here. Even if the effect was disastrous, she did what she thought was right and so should you."

"Would you have attacked your own family and get someone killed if you had been in her place?" I now asked her firmly.

"Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda." Toph said with a shrug. "It's easy to speculate. Harder to live with what actually happened."

"Grandma." I said as I looked at her sadly before I looked up at the sky as a large plume of smoke erupted from the batu estate.

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

When the light cleared I saw we were standing in the living room of my old family home after which Femke first changed back to a human before she fell down and fainted.

"She's ok. Just exhausted." Xai Bau said as he took her pulse.

"Why are we here?" I wondered.

"You tell me. You were the one aiming. That's why she took your hand. She clearly didn't have the strength to both teleport us and aim for a safe place." Xai Bau said as he dusted himself off.

 _"That explains why I feel faint."_ I realized as I looked around with a smile on my face. I hadn't seen this living room since the day I had left. It hadn't changed one bit.

 _"Mother. I know you mean well and that you chose a fiancee for me because you want what is best for me." I remember saying as I looked at my parents. I was sixteen back then. "But I don't see how arranged marriage is going to make things better."_

 _"You worry too much. All you have to care about is taking care of your wife and keeping the Batu name going. We have our Queen to handle the important things." My mother said with a smile on her face._

 _"That is the problem, mother. She has only been on the throne for three months and already word spread about corruption and other scandals." I replied with a stern look._

 _"It is not your duty to concern yourself with such things. You're only a child." My mother said sternly. "Now get to bed. Your lessons start early tomorrow."_

 _"Yes, mother." I said while bowing my head. In my mind I had decided I wasn't going to get into this forced marriage. I was not going to end like my parents._

 _That night I snuck out and joined the Red Lotus. The best decision of my life._

"She's coming around." i snapped out of my thoughts when I heard P'li talk and looked at Femke.

"Did it work?" She asked groggily as she sat up and accepted some water from Xai Bau.

"Yes. We made it thanks to you." I smiled as she rubbed over her face and got up.

"Where are we?" She asked as she looked around.

"My old home. This is where I grew up." I said.

"Seriously? That was the best you came up with?" Femke asked with a deadpan look as I shoved her slightly.

"I didn't know you were using my mind for our escape." I said, after which I perked up my ears. I heard something.

"They were right _ **THERE**_. How did you let them get away?" Mother… She was home! I looked at Femke, who looked back with the same panic.

 _"To the back door, come on!"_ I whispered to everyone as I led them to the back door but as we passed a big portrait of me and my parents someone pulled me in and suddenly everything around me went black.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And with that I end the chapter! Sorry it was long with a lot of talking but I needed this chapter to explain some things.

 _ **A/N:**_

Opal is the only character to come after Femke, believing she might be able to talk sense into her, which also made me feel like Femke might want to try and talk some sense in her. On advice of my Beta I tried to make her sceptical of Femke.

Toph just popped out of my head during that fight scene with the guards. Appearing the same way she did in Zhaofu to aid Lin and Su in their battle with Kuvira. It just fell to right for her to do it.

Keep the smoke plume Opal saw above the Batu family home in mind. It still has a role to play.

And that was all for now! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thanks for keeping up reading my story and thanks to paranoidgirl for her hard work as beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	20. Chapter 20: batu mansion secrets

chapter 20 batu mansion secrets

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

I was grabbed and pulled in before I even had time to react and we all ended in a very dark place with someone covering my mouth with their hand.

 _"Be quiet and don't fight me. I mean you no harm."_ My father's voice whispered from behind me after which a torch lit up and I could see him stand behind me. His hair more grey then last time I had seen him and a worried look on his face.

"Father? where are we? And what do you mean you?" Were the first two questions that I asked when he took his hand off my mouth.

"Just do as I say. I'm not going to turn you in." My father smiled. "You love this young lady, right?" My father asked as he nodded to Femke. I nodded in response.

"And you, you love my son, right?" He asked as he looked at Femke, who blushed as she nodded.

"That's why I am not going to turn you in." My father said with a sad smile. "I was robbed of a marriage for love and I won't let you suffer the way I am." I looked at him with widen eyes as he said this. He was suffering? Because he didn't love mother. Why didn't he tell me before? He could have escaped with me.

"Great. That still doesn't explains where we are." Ming said, which made my father grin.

"I'm surprised Zaheer never found these tunnels. They're everywhere under the house." My father grinned "They're secret tunnels build by your mother to keep the family secrets." As he said this my father walked to a large door on his right.

"Family secrets long buried. Your mother hid them here in the hope you would never find them." My father said. "But I was planning on telling you all along when you were old enough to understand."

"More mysteries. Because of course." Ghazan said while I just wondered what secrets my mother could have been keeping.

"Why didn't you tell him before if you were planning to tell him all along?" Femke asked as she came to walk next to me and wrapped an arm around me.

"Because I thought he was too young to understand but he is an adult now. The time has come." my dad smiled at my girlfriend and me as he said this. "So I snuck home and waited for you in the tunnels, hoping you would find them."

"Why sneak up on us? You could have just called." Femke commented as my father opened the door.

"Would you have trusted me?" My father asked.

"Probably not." Femke admitted with her head down.

"That's why I didn't tell you. This was the only way to get you here." And when he said 'here' my dad opened the door, revealing a room full of toys I had always wanted but never got. how did they get here?

"This isn't creepy at all." Ghazan commented as he entered.

"I don't understand. How did they get here if they're not mine?" I asked as a looked at my father, confused.

"Secret kid?" Ghazan offered, smirking.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Ming Hua said.

"What?" Ghazan fired back. "Why else would there be a secret playroom?"

"It could have been an option." Femke commented as she scanned the room with her magic. "But I'm afraid i have to disappoint you. These toys have never been played with."

"She's right. Alteressa locked these toys up down here, not wanting you to find them. They came from an old friend of mine." My father explained as I kneeled down and inspected an old train set on the floor while Ghazan kicked a ball.

"What's so weird about an old friend sending gifts for your child?" Femke asked while I put the train down and walked to a drawer that was somehow calling for me to open it. Looking at the letters in the first drawer which were all dated around the thirty five years ago and were a for my father.

 _Why are all these here?_

I wondered as I opened one that was dated around the day of my sixt birthday.

 _My dear Shergon_

 _How are you and Zaheer doing? I hope he gets the presents I sent him. I think about the both of you each and every day._

 _I know today is his birthday and I got him a stuffed bear. The one you told me he wanted so badly. I sprayed some of my perfume on it so he will know my scent. Please make sure he gets it, I want him to know who I am so badly. I wish I could be there with the both of you._

 _I love you two will all my heart._

 _Lianna_

I cocked my head in confusion, not getting why this woman so desperately wanted me to get the bear to get her scent.

 _'_ _I love you two with all my heart?' Why would she love me? I never met her. Right?_

I wondered as I opened a second drawer, in which only one envelope lied, marked with a strange symbol.

"How romantic. " I heard Ghazan comment while I opened the letter.

"No. I liked her and I think it would have worked out if we had tried but we were both already engaged." My father replied. I was fully focused on the letter. which was a letter to my grandparents from a local Doctor.

 _Dear Mister and Miss Batu_

 _I regret to inform you that your daughter; Alteressa Lee Batu has the illness named Hevalittus. Don't worry, she will not die from it. We could treat her before it got dangerous for her health. However, she has become sterile as a result._

 _ **WHAT?**_ I gasped as I looked at the letter. That was impossible.

"Zaheer? What's wrong?" Femke asked me with a worried look as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I found a letter of a local doctor to my grandparents on my mother's side. What it said is just… " I stammered as I handed her the letter. "Read it for yourself."

"Heer. I have to admit something." Femke replied with a shy smile on her face. "I never learned to read and write in the language of this realm." She confessed as she handed the letter back to me.

"Sorry. But you might want to work on that." I smiled as I took the letter back and folded it before putting it away.

The letter says my mother had an illness named Hevalittus. a woodvillages illness." I swallowed. "It made her sterile."

"Explains why you're an only child." Ghazan said.

"Probably why they're so adamant on the whole 'Wedding' thing. You're the sole heir." Ming Hua added.

"No. This happened before I was born." I said, reading the letter over to be sure. "Years before I was born."

"Hang on. Back up! Alteressa can't be your mother if that's true." Femke realized with a shocked look, after which I suddenly heard many footsteps and before any of us could react we were once again surrounded.

"Shergon. I should have known you would betray my trust at some point." Alteressa"s voice called from behind me and when I looked up I saw to my shock she had an Equalist's glove on one hand and held a Kami stick in the other one.

"You of all people should have known from the beginning I never intended to keep my word." My father said as we all raised our hands. "You knew the burden of my past was to heavy for me to bear."

"You're a traitor and a liar. I should have eliminated that whore a long ago as my parents told me." Alteressa snarled as she pointed the Kami stick at my father's chest "I was a fool to believe you would keep your word."

"Finally. Now i have a chance to set things right." My father said. "Xai was right; I should have told my son the truth sooner and flee. That would have spared him a lot of pain."

I gasped in shock when my father said this before I turned and looked at my Master. "Master Xai Bau? You knew my father kept things from me? And you never told me." I asked with a mixture of shock and betrayal in my voice.

"Yes but please understand your father forbade me to speak about it." Xai Bau answered, just as hurt by this as me.

"How do you know each other?" Femke wondered as she looked from my master to my father, which made Xai Bau shrug while Tziza groaned.

"You two are impossible." She groaned. "Just tell him the truth."

"It's indeed time the man knew all the Batu family secrets." Xai Bau said as he looked at his second in command.

"There's more?" Femke asked shocked.

"Let's just start with the whole _'Sterile before Zaheer was born'_ thing." Ghazan said.

"Yes. The Batu family has more than one secret." Xai Bau said while we locked eyes. "I told you my first name is Xai and last name is Bau. But the documents that you found were fake, Zaheer." My master looked down as he admitted this. "Xai Bau is just my first name."

 _ **"Xai. I forbid**_ __ _ **you to tell him.**_ " Alteressa cut in firmly, looking at my teacher sternly.

 _ **"Shut it!**_ " Femke snapped.

"Go on." My father encouraged as he came to stand next to my master and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He has the right to know who you truly are."

"I know Shergon. I should have done it immediately." Xai Bau replied as he gave my dad a soft smile. "My full name is xai bau Heero Batu." My eyes widened when he said his last name, knowing full well what that meant. "Second son to Lee and Amira Batu."

"So _**all this time**_ , you were my uncle! And you never told me." I raged, tears of betrayal welling up in my eyes as I realized all this time I had worked for my uncle without being told so.

"I. couldn't tell you. I promised your father not to." Xai Bau said while backing away from me, knowing what I was capable of when angered. "I wanted to and I have been on the verge of telling you more then once."

"How long did you know your nephew worked for you?" Ghazan asked.

"Since I looked into his papers right before your first mission started." Xai Bau admitted. "I wrote your father at once. I had to tell him you were with me. He told me to keep a close eye on you but to never reveal myself as your uncle, afraid you wouldn't be accepted if you were known as the nephew of the Red Lotus founder."

"Nice going." Ghazan smirked.

"It was because he was my prodigy." Xai Bau smirked as he looked at me. "Without any help you proved yourself a true Red Lotus member. Making your father proud even though what we did was against everything he believes in."

"Him being your uncle does explain a lot." Ming Hua commented with a smirk on her face. "At least considering P'li." P'li and I both blushed a little when ming said this. To the dismay of my mother.

"A Combustion bender? You fell in love with her?" Alteressa asked me with a mocking grin. "Maybe your second option wasn't so bad after all."

"Does it matter in love?" My father asked as he looked at P'li with a small smile. "If you loved him you would have been welcome with me."

"Thank goodness." Femke smiled as she took a step towards my supposed mother and grinned. "I'm also a Combustion Bender." She snapped.

"Femke and P'li have been the best of friends since the day they met each other." I said as i looked from Femke to P'li with a smirk on my face. "Not all Combustion Benders are evil."

"Zaheer." Both women whispered, smiling before they went over to him and hugged him. "I might have hurt you but you both still mean the world to me." I smiled as I held them close, tears in my eyes as I said this.

"And you to us, Zaheer. Just stop lying." P'li smirked as she poked me.

"Could we please start focussing on the problem at hand?" Ming Hua commented, which made Femke move up her arm, ready to pull up a smoke curtain which would allow us to escape.

"Before we get out of here I must know one more thing." I said, which made Alteressa look up at me shocked. "Alteressa, are you my birth mother?"

"You can't figure that out by yourself? And here I taught you were supposed to be wise." Alteressa asked with a smirk on her face.

"Answer the question." I asked her coldly.

"No." My father answered before my mother could reply with a sad look in his eyes. "Your real mother would have let you marry for love just as much as i wanted you to." He suddenly stopped as Alteressa electrified him from behind, causing him to collapse.

 _ **"**_ _ **Father!**_ _ **"**_ I exclaimed as I saw him collapse, soon after which Femke and P'li created a huge explosion which gave me room to run to my father and check his pulse. Bending and moving around to avoid the many soldiers who were now attacking us.

"Is he…?" Femke asked as she moved in close to me and used water to smack away the soldiers coming her way.

"How is he?" My master asked me with a worried look as he also stood next to me. I didn't reply, I was still mad at him for not telling me he was my uncle.

"Is it that bad?" Femke asked as she looked me in the eyes.

"He's still breathing but he needs medical help, fast." I said as I looked up at Femke sadly. "The sooner we get out of here the sooner my mother might get him to a healer."

"Then we have to get moving!" Femke said as she got closer to me and flipped her water whip around to swipe the soldiers out of her way. " _ **Let's get out of here!**_ _ **"**_ She called as she opened a path for the others to come to her side.

"Hang on!" P'li called back as she used her Combustion Bending to throw soldiers to the side.

"Help me out here!" Ming Hua called from a far corner of the room where a few soldiers backed her into a corner.

 _ **"**_ _ **Give me a minute!"**_ Ghazan said as he used his earthbending to launch himself close to Ming Hua.

" _ **Let's level the playing field."**_ Ghazan called as he used his lavabending to catch the men of guard before smacking them in a wall, not seeing one of them launched a boulder at ming, which made she smacked against the wall as well.

 _ **"**_ _ **Yeah, no.**_ " He called as he used the same boulder to smack the man into a wall, sinking him into the ground right before the thing hit him, which made the boulder only scratched his head.

"Lucky for you, we're turning over a new leaf." Ghazan smirked as he helped Ming Hua back up.

"Let's just keep going." Ming Hua groaned as she shrugged off his help and got up herself. Both of them didn't see a man had gotten up behind them before he used his earthbending quick as lightning to send Ghazan flying into a wall, before he lunged a even bigger rock at Ming Hua.

 _ **"**_ _ **Ming!"**_ Ghazan exclaimed as he watched the stone edge closer. At first I saw some fear in Ming's eyes, for the first time since we met her as a scared and scarred fourteen year old girl but that turned into raw determination in a matter of seconds, as she took a firm stance and moved her water arms out before her.

 _"_ _Impossible._ " All soldiers gasped as a gust of air escaped from Ming's water arms, making the boulder stop and fall down in mid- flight only a few feet from where she stood.

" _Airbending?_ " Ming Hua asked as she looked at her water arms, incredulous. "Alright then." She stated as she looked at the soldiers, before looking at a grinning Ghazan. _**"What?"**_

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _ **"What?"**_ Ming Hua asked as she looked at Ghazan, who looked at her with twinkling eyes.

"This." Without another word, Ghazan pushed his lips against those of Ming Hua, who stiffened at first before she relaxed and gave in as time seemed to slow down around the two of them.

"About time." P'li chimed as she looked at the two of them kiss.

"I love you." Ghazan whispered as he held the waterbender close.

"Why now?" Ming Hua asked, more gentle than usual.

"I almost lost you twice now without being able to tell you how I feel." Ghazan admitted. "I wanted to tell you before it was too late."

"Melodramatic fool." Ming Hua smiled as she wrapped her water arms around him.

 _ **"He's waking up!"**_ Zaheer called all of a sudden, which made Femke's head snap up..

"Are you okay Mister Shergon Sir?" Femke asked as she moved close to Zaheer again, while the fighting around them continued.

"I will survive but you all have to get out of here quickly." Shergon coughed as he leaned on his son and brother to get up. "Can you get me to the portrait of the woman with the black hair and blue eyes?"

"Sure." Zaheer said, giving Xai Bau a stern nod as the pair helped Shergon to the portrait.

 _"He'll come your way, dearest. Just a little bit more."_ Shergon whispered to the portrait as he stroked the woman over her cheek before he pushed on the right eye, which made a secret passage open.

" _ **This way!"**_ Femke called as she nodded to Zaheer, who hugged his father one last time before he headed in first, soon followed by master Xai Bau and Tziza.

 _ **"I hold them off!**_ " P'li called as she waved at Ming Hua and Ghazan and Combustion bended at the soldiers to keep them at bay, which ghazan somehow saw as a cue to pick up ming hua and launch himself in the passage with his earthbending.

"Will patronizing me become a regular thing?" Ming Hua scolded the Earth bender when they had safely landed.

"How else can I show that I love you?" Ghazan smirked as he held the woman close.

 _ **"We got everyone! Lets go!**_ " Femke called, using her own Combustion Bending to make some space between P'li and the soldiers, which gave her a way to run over to her best friend. Together the two women Combustion Bended one last time to make a smoke curtain before they disappeared through the escape and were gone.

"They have escaped my lady." The head of the guards reported to Alteressa as he saluted while two guards helped her back on her feet.

"Make sure all your soldiers are unharmed then report back to your duties." Alteressa commanded, much to the guard's surprise.

"You don't want us to go after them?" The head soldier asked.

"They'll be back once they realize someone needs them." Alteressa said, looking at a wounded Shergon, who was held by two soldiers, looking down sadly since he had been unable to escape.

 _Please don't come back for me. Find your mother. Find your own happiness. That's what counts most._

Shergon thought as he looked at the roof above him.

That was close." Femke huffed as she put her hands on her knees after they had all ran to the house of P'li"s parents were Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia, Dahlia and her daughter were waiting with the elves and their luggage.

"A little too close. We have to get out of the city. Alteressa will send out a search party soon" Zaheer said while P'li ran over to her parents and hugged them.

"I have to go now but I will be back." P'li assured them with a smile on her face. "This is not farewell. Only goodbye."

"Be careful." Miss Ti smiled as she hugged her daughter.

"Until soon, sis. " Hong Lee beamed as he hugged P'li as well.

"We love you dear. Come visit whenever you can." Chang Lee smiled as he also hugged his daughter.

"I love you all. Thanks for everything." P'li smiled as she hugged the three of them one last time before they all teleported away.

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

After P'li said goodbye to her family, we transported back to the Western Air temple, putting a spell around it so no one would be able to get in the temple itself without our permission. This was the best place to hide until we were ready for the fight against Darkar. Also, now we knew Lanniban meant us no harm since he was P'li's family, we would sleep a lot easier, as well.

"Anyone hungry? I made dinner." Femke called after a while, which made me smile.

 _ **"Coming!**_ " I called, walking to her but just as I wanted to sit down I saw movement by the shield. I went to check it out and let out a yell of shock and surprise.

"What is it?" Femke asked as she ran to my side, dropping the spoon she was holding when she saw who were at the border of the shield.

 _ **"Opal? Toph?**_ " She gasped.

"Hey mom. Don't worry we just came by to drop off some help." Toph smirked as she placed a hand on the shield before she stepped aside. Revealing two men. One with a shot of long dark brown messy hair and a strange scar of the left side of his face and the other with short dark brown hair and a mask I knew only from posters I had seen from the White Lotus guards while I was in jail.

 _"Noatak? Tarrlok?_ " Femke gasped.

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That ends yet another chapter. I hope you all liked it!

 _ **A/N:**_

Please keep reading to find out more about Zaheer's mother.

I had in my head to make Xai Bau the uncle of Zaheer from the day i started this story. I had read lot of other fanfics that described Xai Bau (since what he looked like was never mentioned in the series) and I thought it was very possible that they were somehow related.

I ship Mingzhan! I thought seeing Ming getting struck again was a good motivation for Ghazan to finally admit his feelings for her.

How and why Noatak and Tarrlok are back now will be revealed in time.

That was all for now! I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	21. Chapter 21: noatak and tarrlok

Chapter 21: Noatak and Tarrlok

 _ **Femke's POV**_

"Noatak. Tarrlok." I gasped in shock when I saw my two half brothers stand before me. Noatak was wearing his Amon mask.

"Femke." Tarrlok said before he moved towards me. I quickly opened the shield a little and went through, locking it behind me before I ran towards them with tears in my eyes.

 _ **"Femke!"**_ Noatak exclaimed and before I knew it I was lying on the floor with both my half brothers on top of me.

"I missed you two so much." I sobbed as the three of us hugged each other.

"And we missed you." Tarrlok whispered, his voice full of emotion as he and Noatak held me close.

"Excuse us." Ming Hua called from behind me, which made me look up, realizing the others were all standing behind me.

"Sorry." I said as I looked at them with a sheepish smile "Everyone, these are my brothers; Noatak and Tarrlok."

"The famous bloodbending brothers." Ghazan smirked.

"Nice to meet you. Your sister told us much about you." Zaheer smiled as he shook the hands of Noatak and Tarrlok, who looked at me a little dumbfounded, which I answered with a sheepish smile.

"She missed you both a lot." P'li smiled as she gave them each a hand as well. "She's clearly very fond of you."

"And were very fond of her." Noatak smiled.

"Well, there's always Korra." I said as I looked at Noatak with a teasing grin, who smirked at me before he ruffled my hair.

"Not everyone will like you. And that's fine. The people that matter to you will." Tarrlok said.

"Guys, these are the members of the Red Lotus; Ghazan, Ming-Hua, P'li, Tziza and Master Xai Bau. He's the founder." I smiled as I pointed out each of my friends. "And last but not least; Zaheer." I smiled as I walked to the airbender and wrapped my arms around him "My boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Tarrlok questioned with a confused look. "You were married to Grovyle, last time I checked." Tarrlok asked, which made me look up at him with tears in my eyes before I shook my head.

"What did he do?" Noatak asked as he walked to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"He just left and left me a note to tell me it wasn't going to work out between us." I sobbed, still sad about how he left me.

 _ **"What?**_ Just wait when I get my hands on him." Tarrlok raged as he balled his fists in anger.

"Why would he do such a thing?" Noatak asked.

"He thought I was with another man." I said as I looked at him sadly.

"Why would he think that? You explained to him there wasn't a real relationship between us." Tarrlok said.

"Maybe you shouldn't have flirted when having a relationship." noatak said with a grin.

"But we were holding up the idea we were in a relationship to the outside world so we had a excuse to be around each other a lot." Tarrlok defended. "She was married

and I was with..." He started his sentence, but stopped halfway through and clapped his hands before his mouth as he realized he had said to much.

"Care to fill me in?" Noatak asked.

"It's nothing important." Tarrlok replied, rolling his eyes as his brother as said this.

"You're impossible." Noatak said, as he laughed afterwards. "I missed that"

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

Not much later we all sat around a campfire with a bowl of soup in our hands. Femke was sitting next to me and was smiling as she sipped from her soup while her half brothers told how they escaped. Or rather were released from prison.

"It was unbelievable." Noatak smiled as he was sitting next to P'li. "We could hear Toph yell at the guards all the way from our cell. _**"'I am taking them back to Femke!'."**_

"That's what she said?" Femke asked.

"She did. I just hope that doesn't come back to bite us." Noatak said. "In any case, how have you been?"

"Let's just say I've had a rough few years after the Unalaq crisis." Femke smirked. "The Red Lotus was officially a band of anarchists who wanted to kill all world leaders and the Avatar."

"Seriously?" Noatak said as he looked at Femke with disapproving eyes. "Femke you said you wouldn't do anything stupid when we parted ways. Do you have any idea what you could have caused?"

"I didn't know what the Red Lotus was about at first." Femke said. "I found out that they wanted to kill Korra after she kicked their butts."

"You promised to not get in trouble again." Noatak said firmly.

"I was kidnapped at Zhaofu after which Zaheer lied to me for a while that Korra had enough of me and didn't want to come and rescue me." Femke said while crossing her arms. "I was heartbroken at first... but soon i found comfort with P'li. Something i had missed dearly since our last meeting." Femke looked down sadly when she said this.

"By the time I realized I had been lied to I was too deeply attached to them to betray them but I wasn't made aware of the fact they wanted to kill Korra."

 _"Femke."_ Tarrlok muttered as he looked at his half sister sadly

.

"We're worried. You must have caused so much hurt for people. Benders and non-Benders alike." Noatak said as he looked at her disapprovingly

.

"And yourself. You could have gotten yourself killed!" Tarrlok said firmly.

"Leave that to your brother." Noatak grinned.

"I never intended to get involved again. I guess fate had other plans." Femke said.

"It turned out fine. Things could have ended bad for us if she hadn't been around." I smiled as I wrapped my arm around my girlfriend lovingly.

"Three deaths. Zaheer in jail for the rest of his life. Not to mention Korra traumatized and handicapped." Ghazan summed up. "Define 'Great'."

"Let's not forget about that whole Kuvira nonsense." Ming Hua commented.

"Kuvira?" Tarrlok questioned.

"Kuvira. The self proclaimed 'Great Uniter' who tried to stabilize the Earth Kingdom after Zaheer murdered the Earth Queen." Femke explained.

 _ **"Wait, what?"**_ Noatak asked sternly. "You _**murdered**_ her?"

"He air bended the air out off her lungs before I had the chance to stop him." Femke admitted while looking down.

"At least he succeeded." Tarrlok smirked.

"Like you did." Noatak said firmly, before he turned to Zaheer, his eyes blazing angrily.

"Do you know how many innocent people died because of your actions back then?" He asked dead calm.

"I know. I heard when I was in jail. I never intended that to happen." I said as I looked him deep in his eyes.

"It was foolish of you to try that. You're lucky I'm not acting like Amon anymore or I would have taken your bending." Noatak said theathingly.

"Then why are you wearing the mask again?" P'li asked.

"How did you get it back? It was at the bottom if the lake last time I checked." Femke commented.

"Waterbending, of course. I have a real scar to hide now." Noatak said, carefully taking off his mask to show the others that he indeed has a huge scar on the left side of his face going all the way to his throat.

"I know. Thanks." Femke smirked as she gave her brother a playful shove.

"You're welcome." Tarrlok grinned as he gave Femke a shove back, who pretended that made her lose balance and fall with her head in my lap.

"Hey." She beamed at me seductively.

"Hey." I smiled as I bent forward and rubbed noses with her.

"We get it. You're in love. Can we get back to reality now?" P'li called teasingly.

"Sorry!" Femke called back smirking as she sat up again, then realized something and pulled up her shirt a little so her scar was visible.

"Speaking of scars. I got a new one as well." Femke smiled as she pointed at the scar.

"How did you get that one?" Tarrlok asked as he looked at the scar with widened eyes.

"In a fight on Laghima's peak. They almost got P'li killed. I jumped in to save her." Femke said. "It was that or Lin would have been killed."

"You saved her at the risk of your own."

"We know." I said as I moved in and gently revealed to the two men where the scar ended on her chest. "A few meters more to the right and the blow would have hit her heart."

"You could have been killed." Noatak gasped. "And people still wouldn't have understood."

"I'm not angry. I understand them. After all I chose to align with people that were a threat to this world." I defended.

"Why?" A strange voice called from behind us, which made me look up shocked, as did the others.

"Because my heart told me it was the right thing to do." Femke answered without thinking or considering a moment.

"Then you care for them deeply?" Toph asked as appeared and she waved her hand, which opened the shield for her.

"Why else would I have stayed?" Femke asked.

"Do you regret the decisions you made?" Toph asked.

"Only one. That I wasn't brave enough to stop Zaheer from murdering the Earth Queen." Femke said as she looked down. "As a Voortrix I should have been aware of his plan and stopped him. Murder is never an option. I should have known better then to allow him."

"That was indeed dumb but in the end you didn't help him try and murder Korra, right?" Toph asked.

"Because I was in the hospital for my arm." Femke replied.

"Would you have stopped them from killing Korra if you weren't?" Toph asked sternly.

"No! I'd rather die than allow that!" Femke replied firmly which made me look up at her shocked. She had never reacted this fierce before. "I might have held myself up with criminals but I'm not a heartless monster."

"Yet you let Korra get to you." Toph confronted, which made Femke look down.

"I know and it hurts but every time I want to hurt her, really hurt her, I think of Aang and all the good times we have been through." Femke smiled as she looked at her lap sadly. I placed a hand on her arm to comfort. "And then I can't anymore. She might be the opposite of who Aang was but she is his reincarnation. And even then I shouldn't be hurting people I don't like."

 _"Femke."_ I looked up when I heard a new voice it came from behind the trees.

 _ **"Make yourself known**_!" Femke said firmly as she got up and in front of us in a protective stance.

"Don't be afraid." The voice said after which Korra and her crew, Opal, Lin, Su, Tenzin and his family came out.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

I gasped in shock when I saw all those people come to me with sad looks on their faces as they walked closer, stopping were the shield started.

"You really mean it?" Opal asked me with a sad look as she placed a hand on the barrier. I walked to the barrier now and placed a hand on the same place her hand was.

"Each and every word." I said with a stern look.

"Then why did you leave us? Why did you help them escape time and time again?" Jinora asked with tears in her eyes.

"Jinora." I kneeled down and looked her straight in the eyes "I'm needed here. You're an airbending master now. You can look after yourself. They needed my guidance."

"We still need it." Zaheer smiled as he sat down with me, which made Jinora back away.

"Don't fear him. He changed a lot after Master Xai Bau freed him from jail." I smiled, looking from Zaheer to Jinora.

"Korra told us she saw you and Zaheer kiss, is that true?" Ikki asked all of a sudden, which made me look up at her before I nodded.

"Yes. It took me a while to realize but..." I swallowed before I spoke again. "I love him."

"How? He lied to you. Tried to kill Korra. Tried to kill _**US.**_ Tried to wipe out what your supposed best friend's culture." Jinora asked angrily.

"I know. I was there." I said.

"It doesn't mean there's no regret." Noatak piped up.

"Everyone here made mistakes but we all regret the pain we brought to the people around us. I know I do. I try really hard to make myself a different person." noatak looked down as he said this, which made me smile and walk to him, gently wrapping my arms around him to comfort him.

"Then why are you still wearing the mask?" Korra asked, pointing at it.

"Because I have an actual scar to hide now." Noatak answered. "I don't like people staring."

"And his solution was wearing a Mask the entire world knows and hates." Tarrlok commented.

"At least that was for something I did myself" He said, crossing his arms as his brother shrugged.

"Anyway." Tenzin said as he cleared his throat. "Toph told us she was going to bring Noatak and Tarrlok to you and we wanted to know what was going on." He asked

.

"I understand Tenzin." I smiled as I waved my hand and opened the shield to let everyone through. "I would have done the same in your place."

"You're not mad?" Bolin asked as he walked to sit down with the others, next to Ghazan.

 _Who knows. Maybe things are looking up. There could be room for the two of them to become friends._ I thought, smiling.

"You had all the right to be mad at me." I answered seriously. "I was wrong to act the way I did." I looked down, which made me look up when two brown hands wrapped themself around mine and when I looked up, Korra looked at me.

"You were a little selfish but I wasn't very fair to you either." The young Avatar said as she looked at. "I always assumed you chose do do certain things to spite me. Now I see there was more to it then that." She looked around after this, her eyes gliding over the many friends I made.

 _Is she going to say what I think she is going to say?_ Shot through me as I looked at her with widened eyes, unable to believe what she was saying.

"You're a Voortrix and you did as you thought was best. For your brothers. For your friends. I'm don't agree with the things you chose but I should have given you a second chance." My heart pounded when she said this. The words I always thought she would only say to me in my dreams.

"I can forgive you. If you can forgive me." Korra said.

"Of course I can." I sniffed as I rubbed the tears from my eyes. "That I was mad at you didn't mean I stopped caring. I still want to be your friend. Even if I know I ruined that chance."

"Our promise to Aang." Toph smirked as she got up and walked to me.

"I never forgot." I nodded with a smile on my face.

"What promise?" Ghazan and Bolin asked in unison.

"The day after Avatar Roku told Avatar Aang about the friendship between Avatar Roku, Monk Giatso and Firelord Sozin." I smiled as I took Toph's hand. "We promised we would always stay friends, however many lifetimes would come after."

"He knew you were a Voortrix?" Tenzin asked. "Why didn't he ever tell me?"

"He might have thought I had gone for good." I replied while scratching my chin. "Or he just forgot."

"Or you forgot." Zaheer remarked as I elbowed him.

 _"Could you_ _ **not**_ _ruin this for everybody?"_ I whispered to him firmly. _"You're supposed to be the smart one."_

 _"It could be true."_ He smirked with a shrug.

"True." I admitted, but before I could continue Su suddenly stood up. As if she felt something in the Earth.

"There's a rockslide down in the chasm! And someone's down there…. Prince Wu?"

Su called out. This made me snap my head up and give her a shocked look.

"What's that Royal pain in the neck doing here?" I asked as I got up and started to run towards the chasm.

"We will ask him once he's safe." Su answered as she also started running with Zaheer following close behind us. He probably wanted to prove himself.

"He will never make it unless someone goes to get him." He realized once we had reached the side of the chasm and found Prince Wu, standing on a small ledge with no way out, peeping as he looked at the rocks passing by.

"Su, can you hold off the rocks until…?" I started but stopped when Zaheer jumped off the ledge and started to jump from boulder to boulder agilly towards were Wu was.

 _ **"Zaheer!"**_ I yelled after him.

 _ **"I'll get him**_!" Zaheer called, jumping and dodging rocks coming his way until he was by Wu's side.

 _ **"Hang on!"**_ He yelled at the prince as he picked him up and started to jump back but a rock hit him and made him tumble down, making Wu roll away from him.

 _ **"Help!"**_ The Prince called as a rock came his way but Zaheer was faster and managed to pull him away before it hit him.

 _"Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear."_ I muttered as I walked up and down the ledge above the chasm when I lost sight of them for a moment, fearing for the worst.

 _ **"Femke! What happened?"**_ Korra called as she ran to the edge of the cliff as well, along with Tenzin, Toph and a few others.

"Where is Zaheer?" Bolin asked when he realized my boyfriend was missing. I couldn't reply. I could just point to the chasm. Tears in my eyes as i did so.

"He went in?" Asami asked.

"That's suicide if you're not an Earthbender." Tenzin said. I nodded and looked down, gasping when I saw zaheer again, still going with Wu on his back who was now unconscious as Zaheer closed in on us fast.

 _ **"This way!"**_ I called as i jumped in the chasm as well on a ledge above the tumbling boulders while holding out a hand for my boyfriend to grab.

 **"Femke!"** Tenzin called behind me, but he was already to late. I was already on the ledge, moving away boulders with my earthbending to give Zaheer a chance to reach me.

 _ **"Catch the prince! Get him out! I'll be fine!"**_ Zaheer called as he threw Wu at me, whom I catched with ease.

 _ **"Heer! Get out of there!"**_ I called at him, carefully laying the unconscious Prince at the top of the cliff with the others were he was safe before I headed down again. I panicked slightly as I scanned the many tumbling rocks for my boyfriend but I couldn't see him, until I heard a roar underneath me, gasping in delight when I saw he was hanging onto a ledge.

 _ **"Give me your hand!"**_ I called, reaching for him with my free hand, which Zaheer took happily and in a matter of seconds he was laying on top of me, safe and sound.

"It's times like these I miss flying." Zaheer grinned as he sat up and rubbed his elbow.

"I think the others might disagree." I smirked as I got up as well. "You do realize you just saved a do monarch right?"

"I know and I know that's strange but I heard in the end he abdicated and made the Earth Kingdom a democracy." Zaheer smiled. "It seems you were right after all. Not all Kings and Queens are horrible."

"Did you ever doubt that?" I asked as I helped him stand, but just when I grabbed his arm he flinched in pain.

"Boulder hit my arm. I think it broke." Zaheer answered my unasked question.

"Be glad it's just a broken arm, it could have ended worse." I smiled as we made it to the others and I started to heal his arm

"True." Zaheer replied smirking.

"Does anyone have any idea what started that avalanche?" I asked while keeping myself to my work. "And what was Wu doing there?" I asked as I saw Wu slowly waking up, holding his head.

"Mako left without a word. Something about _'Talking to Femke with the others_.'" He started. "Didn't even finish our diner. So I… I got worried and followed him. But I lagged behind and got myself in that chasm."

"Diner?" Bolin asked as both Wu and Mako looked away, blushing. Bolin just grinned. "Well, we don't have to worry about Mako feeling bad about Korra and Asami hooking up."

"That doesn't explain why the rocks started falling." Su replied.

"I have one." Another voice called from behind. Lin."I saw a bunch of Kuvira's past followers flee towards the mountain side."

"They still want him dead?" I gasped.

"Probably now more than ever. They want revenge and he's a far easier target then, say, Korra." Lin continued. "Who got him out anyway?"

"Down here." Zaheer remarked sharply as Lin crossed her arms.

"Really now?" Lin asked with a voice full of disbelieve. I could understand. If I had been in her place I would have found it hard to believe as well.

"He did" Tenzin answered calmly.

"Your kidding, right?" The chief of police asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Since when does Tenzin have a sense of humor?" I asked smirking.

"I saw him, too. And I was the one right there." Wu said.

"I might still have my doubt." Zaheer said calmly "But Prince Wu both abdicated and made the Earth Kingdom a democracy after the fall of Kuvira. It seems Femke was right. Not all world leaders are terrible." I smiled when he said this, slowly using his good arm to raise himself up.

"So, what do you say? Do you trust me?" Zaheer asked while holding out his hand towards the Prince, who looked at it unsure.

"You killed my Great Aunt, destroyed the city and made it worse for everyone living there for years." Wu said firmly, crossing his arms, which made everyone including Zaheer look at him shocked.

"You do realize many citizens could drink that woman's blood, right?" Zaheer asked

.

"And your first idea was murder?" Wu asked with a challenging voice.

"Well maybe that was too far but I had no idea what else to do." Zaheer admitted while looking down.

"You could have let others try." The Prince said while nodding to me. "You're not the only one responsible."

"Wu, even if I had tried I think your great aunt would have put us in jail. And they just got out off that." I said as I stood next to Zaheer and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't bother. She has a bigger blind spot for these people then Toph has for everything around her." Korra remarked. Toph punched her arm for that.

"I wouldn't be able to reason with her but that doesn't takes away I should have tried." I continued, ignoring korra's comment. "I'm sorry about your Great Aunt."

"We all are. Some just don't say it out loud." Ming Hua said as she gave Zaheer a firm poke, who gave her an annoyed look before he just nodded. This was a good sign. He was starting to see the error in his ways. The full redemption of the Red Lotus was closing in fast.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And with that I end the chapter. I hope you liked it.

 _ **A/N:**_

I was planning to bring Noatak and Tarrlok back at some point since they're Voortrix! And here they are! Toph brought them back to the team. She was the most logical person to do this since

She has a dismay of rules and

She is was the only character I could think of that would be able to track our friends down.

In jail, Noatak and Tarrlok had some time to re-adjust to each other and talk out the differences they hadn't talked out in season One yet, allowing them to become more relaxed and funny now.

I thought this would also be a good time for Femke and Korra to fully set aside their differences and join forces.

I was listening to the lion king song "To Die For" when I wrote the rockslide scene, which is based on the Lion King scene where Mufasa dies (which is one of my favorite scenes ever)

That was all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading so far and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and adviser.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	22. Chapter 22: trust and friendship

Chapter 22: trust and friendship

 **Normal POV**

Not much later the whole clan was sitting around the campfire with a bowl soup in their hands while each of the Red Lotus members openly told their stories, even Zaheer.

"Hold the phone, so Unalaq was one of you?" Bolin asked, scratching his head.

"Bolin, Korra told us that years ago." Mako replied.

"He told us were we could find Korra, though we should have been more suspicious when he said he was unable to join us that night." Zaheer said as he finished his meal.

"You think he informed the White Lotus you were coming?" Femke asked sadly but also a bit worried.

"Aiwei told me he suspected it while I was in prison, not long after our first capture" Zaheer answered. "I still think he did as well. It's just too strange that just then, so short after they discovered the new Avatar. Lord Zuko, Master Tenzin and Councilman sokka were already with her."

"Yeah." Femke said as she looked down as well. "It doesn't add up, unless they were tipped off."

"Which would fit in his plan to free Vaatu and become the Dark Avatar" Ghazan added.

"He was already the odd man out of the six of us." Ming Hua added.

"So was Aiwei but he was never a problem for us." Zaheer remarked.

"Because Aiwei was afraid of Zaheer. Unalaq on the other hand..." P'li said.

"First week in Zaheer got in a fight with Unalaq." Xai Bau smirked, ruffling Zaheer over his hair, which Zaheer shrugged off.

"He had a black eye for weeks." Ghazan said as he put his feet up.

"You two fought? I thought you were friends." Korra asked with a surprised look on her face.

"We saw eye to eye on the important matters but that was about it." Zaheer replied with a smile. "Your uncle loved to get me into trouble with the others of the organization, especially in the first few weeks."

"He suspected something. He told me himself. He suspected you and me were related and that this was why I didn't kick you out by the first broken rule." Xai Bau replied. Zaheer just looked away. "But I told him you had great potential and were determined to prove yourself."

"Unalaq couldn't stand it." Tziza smirked. "He was headstrong, prideful and often refused to follow up my commands."

"You wouldn't believe the punishments he got from that." Ghazan smirked.

"It wasn't funny." Ming Hua said.

"It was to me." Ghazan replied.

"Hey, everyone." Femke called all of a sudden, making everyone look at her surprised. "If Sokka was there, does that mean you would have..." Femke didn't finished her question, looking at her friends sadly.

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

Hey, everyone." Femke called all of a sudden, making everyone look at her surprised. She had been so silent I almost forgot she was there. "If sokka was there does that mean you would have..." She didn't finish her question, looking at us sadly.

"Why ask now?" P'li asked her with a sad look.

"I have wondered about it all along and just never had the courage to ask before." Femke stammed as she looked down. "Sokka was a friend of mine and I want to know what happened to him."

"I see." I replied as I looked at her with a small smile "Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"That's why I ask." Femke replied firmly.

"Alright, but it's not going to be a pretty story." I sighed. "We didn't kill Sokka. He was there and I beat him but I didn't have the time to kill him. Lord Zuko and Master Tenzin managed to take me out before I had a chance." I said.

"Master Tenzin, you can interrupt me if you remember things differently. A different perspective is always welcome." I told the Airbending master, who nodded in reply before I started.

"Alright, we're almost there. Keep cool and follow my lead." A younger version of Zaheer told his friends as they sat in the back of a truc, which was parked a few metres away from a village.

 _"P'li, I want you to stay as close to me as possible. We're not sure who is in there." Zaheer said as he looked his girlfriend firmly. "In the best scenario only the parents are with the kid but i have a feeling there might already be others there as well."_

 _"Understood." P'li nodded firmly._

 _"Ming and Zan; take out any guards. Kill them if needed. We need the Avatar." He told his other two friends firmly, who nodded in reply._

 _"Almost looking forward to resistance." Ghazan commented._

 _"Get serious or you won't even make it out of this car." Ming Hua replied firmly. "We need the Avatar to make our plans work. No time for extra brawls."_

 _"Ming hua is right. Lets hope there are no White Lotus guards, it would make things a lot easier." I replied sternly, at which ghazan sighed._

 _"Fine" ghazan said. After this we drove as close to the village as possible without throwing away our element of surprise and got ready. I had a dagger in my one hand and a curved sword in the other._

"Weapons?" Femke wondered, interrupting the story.

"I was still a non bender back then, remember?" I told her.

"Right. I keep forgetting you didn't have your bending back then. I'm so used seeing you with it." The brunette beamed to the great amusement of some of the Team Avatar members.I smiled at her. "Back then I was just a skilled martial artist which still got me in a high guarded cell."

"Not as bad as the rest of us." Ghazan commented.

"I still was sent to the top of a mountain." I said.

"Can we get back on topic?" Ming Hua interrupted.

"Right." I coughed.

 _So we headed in, weapons at the ready and we saw Master Tenzin, Lord Zuko and Councilman Sokka sit around the table with Korra. This surprised me but I knew we had to do it. The fate of many depended on it. Or so we taught._

 _"Excuse me, what do you want?" Korra's mother asked calmly when she saw us, not understanding what we were doing here._

 _"Give us the Avatar and no one will get hurt." I called as I held my weapons out._

 _"You won't get the Avatar." Tenzin said as he blew a blast of air at Zaheer, who was thrown in the back wall._

 _ **"Senna! Get Korra out of here! We'll hold them off."**_ _Zuko told the parents as he got up and into a bending stance while Sokka got his boomerang from his pocket._

 _"Just like old times." Sokka smirked, dodging Ming Hua's water whips P'li's Combustion Blasts._

 _ **"Stay out off her line of sight."**_ _Zuko called to Master Tenzin, who looked up when he realized we had a combustion bender in their team._

 _"The last one almost got us killed." Sokka said as he hid behind some boulders and looked around. "We have to get her down if we want to take the rest down."_

 _"I reckon you have a plan?" Zuko asked with a smirk on his face._

 _"Yes. Zuko, try and distract the non bender, he seems to be the leader of the crew." Sokka said calmly as the three man were behind the rock now._

 _"Tenzin, I want you to blast the Lavabender against the wall on my signal. That way his lavadisk will strike the waterbender, so she will lose her water arms." Sokka explained. "If she can't bend anymore she will be easy to take out."_

 _"Good thinking. Do you think one hit will take her out? She seems tough." Zuko asked as he looked at us._

 _"Just watch the Earthbender. That guy is bending lava. If that stuff comes at you as fast as he makes it move she will stop bending for a moment to make sure she's safe. Boomerang and I will do the rest." Sokka smirked as he held up his boomerang, throwing it at P'li, who dodged in the nick of time, after which Ming Hua and Ghazan crumbled the rock they were sitting behind._

 _ **"Now!"**_ _Sokka called, at which Tenzin started to face off against me while Zuko fought Ghazan._

 _"That must have been epic." Femke commented, smirking._

 _"We held our own for quite a while butt in the end sokka's plan worked." I replied, looking down._

 _ **"P'li!"**_ _I called as I looked at my girlfriend lying on the ground close to me, yet I was unable to reach for her because I had been beaten down by her attack backfiring on me. On top of that my face was bleeding badly._

 _"Make sure they can't harm anybody until we can lock them away properly." Lord Zuko commanded after which I fell I was being chained. I tried to resist with all I had left inside me but I was unable to move because two soldiers were holding me down._

 _"Sir! This one is still awake! Should we knock him out?" One of the guards called._

 _"We still need to find out why he wanted to take the avatar." The voice of the Firelord called, before I felt a sting in my neck after which I passed out, the last thing I saw was P'li being chained down._

 _I wouldn't see her again for thirteen years._

"No wonder they couldn't keep their hands off each other once they got together again." Ghazan joked.

"You'd probably have done that too if you knew back then what you know now." Femke said with a teasing smile.

"Two out of three, got it right!" Bolin smirked as he elbowed Ghazan.

"Everybody knows you can't grow a moustache at age ten." Ghazan smirked.

"How come you never told her before?" Bolin asked out of the blue, which made both Ming Hua and Ghazan look at him a little confused.

"At first i wasn't sure if she felt the same way about me. Then we got in imprisoned and after that the mission became our top priority." Ghazan replied.

"Why not ask her in between missions? Your a dashing fellow. When you're not destroying things." Wu said.

"Whatever you say, I guess. " Ghazan looked at Ming for a moment then smirked

"Also, Ming's someone who's hard to read. Didn't want to ruin what we already had."

"You wouldn't have. Coward." Ming Hua replied.

"Or just smart." Ghazan smirked.

"Could be." Ming replied. The other Red Lotus members started laughing. Everyone else just shrugged.

"You had to be there." Femke said at which Korra nodded.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

"Femke, I have to ask, why did you never tell the airbending kids what you could bend when you returned?" Opal asked after a moment of awkward silence. I looked up a little shocked. _She brought it up now?_

"Because I didn't feel like telling back then." I said while looking down. "There's also the fact that I had no idea how everybody would react to the fact that Zaheer taught me airbending."

 _ **"What?!"**_ Everybody except the Red Lotus members exclaimed in unison.

"It's true." Zaheer smiled a proudly as I made a small tornado appear on my hand just as Zaheer had done when he had come to the Air Temple as Yorru.

"How did you manage?" Tenzin asked.

"It wasn't that hard. She trusted me." Zaheer explained with a smile on his face.

"Before I found out he lied to me. Twice" I smirked as I gave my boyfriend a small shove, who gave a me a small shove back.

"You had to mention that didn't you?" Zaheer teased.

"I wasn't gonna let you get away with it too easily." I winked at Zaheer as I gave him another shove. Zaheer played along as he toppled on top of me and slipped in a kiss.

 _"Femke."_ Opal whispered as she looked at me with shocked eyes, sounding hurt.

"You two better stop before someone faints." Ghazan called after which Zaheer gently got up and moved away, I noticed he moved somewhat stiffly.

"I should stop doing that, it's making me ache." Zaheer apologized while dusting himself off.

"During training a few weeks I notice you were out of balance. Are you sure you shouldn't go see a healer?" I asked worriedly. I started to realize that over the last couple of weeks he lost his stance far easier then he used to during firebending practice together, and he had gotten a lot paler as well.

"I'm fine. You're more powerful now, remember? And it's a full moon tonight, don't fret about it" Zaheer replied.

"What does the full moon have to do anything?" Opal asked. _Oh, right… I hadn't told her about me being a werewolf yet._

"Well, you know what they say about couples and the full moon." Ghazan joked while I locked eyes with Opal.

"The full moon does more then just give waterbenders a extra boost of power." I started. "It also reveals horrible things. Humans who have a whole different side."

"The children of the night?" Opal asked. "I once read a book about them."

"I once encountered one and got bitten by it." I said calmly as I pulled my shirt down and revealed the mark of my powers; the bite scar, at which Opal looked horrified but before she could ask me anything else, men in blue uniforms with hats over their faces suddenly appeared.

 _ **"Give us Ming Hua and no one gets hurt."**_ One of them said with a deep voice.

"Now ain't that familiar?" Ghazan said as he grinned at Zaheer.

"My thoughts exactly." Zaheer nodded as he got up and in front of Ming Hua. "And what do you want with our friend?" He asked.

"That's classified. Please just hand over the woman." Their leader said.

"We're not going to do that. Ming hua is our friend and ally."

"Her parents sent us because they wanted to see her." A man in the back said, which made their leader turn around and look at his subordinate with a disapproving look.

 _ **"That is classified information."**_ The man barked as his subordinate cringed.

"Wait." I commented as I got next to my boyfriend and looked at the man firmly. "What do Ming's parents want with her?"

"Still classified. All you need to know is that she needs to come with us." The leader said.

"Tell them I'm not interested." Ming Hua said firmly, after which she launched a gust of wind at the man, who dodged it.

"Air? They said she was a Waterbender." The man in the back said, astonished.

 _ **"She must have been part of that wave of new airbenders**_." One of the men called while dodging the attacks of Zaheer and Ghazan, who also started fighting.

"She's not the only one." Zaheer smirked, blasting some fire from is fists as far as he had learned from P'li and me.

 _ **"This wasn't part of the briefing!"**_ one of the man in the back shouted as I used a fierce combination of lavabending and firebending to keep some of the men at bay while ghazan made a moat around us.

 _ **"Femke, help me make some cover. We have to get out of here and fast**_." Zaheer called, propelling towards me with airbending since the man were advancing on us.

 _ **"One cover, coming up!"**_ I called as I got back to back with zaheer while Jinora and Opal threw off more men before they joined us.

"When did these guards learn how to fight like that?" Ghazan commented as he and Bolin lavabent as many of the man away as they could.

 _ **"My bet is that it's another one of Darkars tricks!"**_ I called as I airbended a few men away from Ming, who nodded in thanks before she continued to fight.

 _ **"Darkar or not, let's take them down."**_ Ming Hua snapped.

 _ **"We have to drive them away without hurting them**_!" Korra called from a corner, were she and Asami were facing off against four men back to back.

"Easier said than done." Ghazan said, using a lava disk to get a man away who had managed to take Ming Hua out and had slung her over his shoulder.

 _ **"Leave her alone**_!" Ghazan called, but the man was faster and before he knew it Ghazan was knocked out.

 _ **"Guys!"**_ I exclaimed, wanting to go to help them, but the men were still surrounding us and we had to stick together to make sure we wouldn't be struck down as well.

 _ **"We have her! Let's go**_!" Their leader commanded, carrying an unconscious Ming Hua over his shoulder.

 _ **"Yes, Sir."**_ All other men replied as they started to retreat with us on their heels, trying to get Ming back but soon they used a smoke curtain and when we cleared it away with our airbending it was already to late. She was gone.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you all liked it!

Please leave a review.

Beta written by Paranoidgirl


	23. Chapter 23: the search

chapter 23: the search

 **Ghazans POV**

"She's gone." I stammered when the smoke was cleared away and the men, along with Ming had vanished.

"Zhan, are you ok?" Femke asked but I didn't reply, barely able to grasp what had just happened. I just told her how I felt. And now she was gone.

 _'Should have brought it up earlier.'_ I thought as I kept staring at the place I last saw her.

"Ok, we have to make a plan and execute on it before she reaches her parents." I could hear Zaheer say the distance.

"Maybe her parents just wanted to speak to her?" Bolin commented.

"Sure, that's why they started attacking and saying things are ** _'classified'."_** Femke replied, a little annoyed, at which Bolin looked at her sadly.

"Sorry, I didn't meant it like that. I'm just so worried for Ming." Femke said when she realized she'd sounded rather cruel.

"We're all worried for her, Femke, which is why we should go and try to help her." Zaheer smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She can handle herself." I said.

"But those guards took her down quite easily, she might be in danger." Femke replied.

"She's stronger than that." I held on firmly. "I know it. We all know it."

"I want her to be strong enough to beat them and return here on her own. We all want that" Femke said as she looked in the distance.

"We better go to the North Pole. Just because she can handle herself doesn't mean we should leave her to her own devices." Zaheer smiled as he placed a hand on Femke's shoulder. "The one thing I'm worried about is the trauma her parents inflicted on her already." Zaheer said as he plucked his beard a little. "That could hinder her actions.

"She won't let that stop her." I said.

"Those people starved and abused her for years. That trauma could be something she won't be able to hide" Zaheer brought in.

"Victims of abuse can carry around the scars of their abusive past for the rest of their lives." Femke said with a sad look. "Some even gravitate towards suicide. Just to be rid off it."

"That's not something Ming would do. I mean come on! Fireboy over there needed to cheat by using lightning bending to win from her." I said, which made Mako let out a loud ' ** _Hey!'_**.

"Just because she hides the emotions doesn't means they're not there. Ming might be strong but femke is right. We should go to the North Pole to help out." Zaheer said.

"How are we gonna find her? The North Pole is kinda big" Bolin asked. "We'll never find her if we don't know where to look."

"We do." I said.

"We know were she used to live. She told us after we took her in." Zaheer added. "We can find her. All we need is a plan."

"We'll help you save her" Noatak said.

"We're used to that place. We'll be able to handle ourselves just fine." Tarrlok added firmly.

"Tarrlok, I hate to remind you of this but you're not a bender anymore. That might complicate things." Noatak said sternly.

"Lucky for us I picked up another element in prison." Tarrlok said with a smirk.

"You did?" Bolin and Wu asked in unison.

"I don't think that is possible." Mako said. "Someone would have noticed."

"Well, they didn't and this is the result." Tarrlok replied with a smirk as he made a small rock move a few inches.

"Nice one." I said.

"When did you have time to learn that?" Noatak asked.

"In jail during our time outside I picked up a rock to practice with." Tarrlok smirked. "Using some of the basic earthbending moves Femke told me about during our time together."

"Jail time means training time. I like this guy." I nodded, feeling Ming's absence as there was no back and forth after that.

"If we can spruce up his bending a little he could indeed be a good help" Tziza smiled as she looked at the map.

"Count us in to help as well." Korra said, at which the others nodded. Even though they barely knew us they at least wanted to help us save Ming.

"Thank you. We could use all the help we can get." Zaheer said. "You can start by convincing the white lotus to stop chasing us."

"We'll make sure you can go there without being chased. Should we join you afterward?" Korra asked, ready to help us even though she only saw us as her killers. Good.

"No. They might feel intimidated if they see you. That's something we don't want to happen." Zaheer said sternly. "You better head back to Republic City afterwards. This is something we have to solve on our own."

"You do realize we'll be better matched up against them with two benders who can bend all four elements right?" I asked, at which Korra sighed.

"Really?!" She asked aggravated, before calming herself. "Still have to get used to that. Sorry."

"It's quite alright." Femke replied as I started to get impatient. We really should get going.

"If you say so." Korra shrugged.

"Ghazan does have a point. The more people we have, the faster we could free Ming." Femke said.

"I know but don't you think they might feel intimidated if we were to bring the Avatar along? They might panic and do something to Ming Hua." Zaheer asked me as he looked at Femke sternly.

"Maybe but in case of a fight it would be handy to have a second person around who can bend all four elements." Zaheer argued.

"Maybe you could even learn from them, Korra. You know. What they would have done if you had been taken as a kid." Bolin tried all of a sudden, which made everyone look at him sternly, including Zaheer.

"First thing we need to do once we're there is fill in the authorities on what happened. That way the parents can't call them claiming we're up to our old tricks again." Zaheer said, ignoring what Bolin had said.

"We're going to get her back." I said. I started feeling empty without Ming around.

"After we convinced the White Lotus to not chase you we'll radio Eska and Desna to let them know what happened." Korra nodded firmly.

"After that we need a ride to the village of Hanuda." Zaheer started, but stopped when he saw all Team Avatar members looked at him in unease.

"What?" I asked, a little confused when I saw how they were reacting.

"Hanuda's a pit. Known for its criminal history. That's were Ming Hua was born?" Mako asked.

"What of it?" I asked.

 _Judgemental prick_

Rang through my head while I remembered the day we found Ming.

" _Zhan, could you go collect some water for diner?" Zaheer asked me just as I finished plucking the last leftovers of lunch from my teeth._

 _"As long as I don't have to eat what you're cooking." I called to Zaheer jokingly, which earned me a foul glare._

 _I'll be happy if we're getting out of here. I can't see how anyone enjoys living here._

 _I thought as I started to use a piece of rock to make a lava disk to cut open up the nearby frozen lake. Just when I wanted to lower the bucket into the water I heard a rustle behind me after which I felt a sting in my neck._

 _"Don't make a sound." A female voice called from behind me._

 _"Well, I don't want to end up like a pincushion so I guess I'll listen." I replied, which made the female behind me make a hesitating noise before she pricked in my neck a little firmer._

 _"Do you have any money?" She asked._

 _"Just a bucket and a piece of rock." I replied calmly, at which the girl growled._

 _"Are you alone?" She asked._

 _"I've got a few friends. Just as broke as me." I smirked._

 _"Dangit!" The girl cursed after which she knocked me unconscious and when I woke up, she was gone._

 _A few days later when I was gathering water again I was surprised to find her again but this time at a safe distance from behind a rock. She seemed to be observing me as I worked._

 _"You do realize I'm an Earthbender right?" I called as I put my bucket down and turned to the rock she was hiding behind._

 _"No." She softly replied after which a young armless girl appeared. Couldn't be much older then me, wearing rags._

 _"I'm not going to bite. Want to come in and meet the rest? We've got food." I offered, seeing how thin the girl was._

 _"I tried to mug you yesterday and now your offering me food?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow._

 _"I don't see why not." I replied with a shrug as I walked in front of her towards the cave we used as a hideout and put the water down near Tziza before I got a few dumplings and handed them to the girl, who looked at them, puzzled, before she quickly ate them, making makeshift water arms to do so._

 _"Made a new friend?" Xai Bau asked when he walked up to me, causing the girl to hunch over and growl._

 _"She just needs food." I replied as I handed her some more food, which she scarfed down._

 _"What's your name?" Xai Bau asked kindly._

 _"Why do you want to know? Want to turn me in?" She asked suspiciously._

 _"I wanted to know because I care to know." The older man smiled as he held out his hand towards the young girl, who looked at the hand like it suspiciously. "What do they call you?"_

 _"Ming Hua." the girl said after a moment._

"That was quite the introduction." Tenzin commented as Zaheer wound the story down. "It's almost as if every human is capable of horrible things, no matter what background."

"She joined us after a few days. She barely trusted us at first but in the end she managed and came with us." Xai Bau smiled.

"She was great from the start." I smirked "Temper and all."

"That's an interesting way to put it." Xai Bau smirked.

"She's been a great help." Tziza added.

"Yeah." I answered with a smirk.

"Can we get down to business?" Dahlia suddenly said, which made us all look at her shocked. She had barely spoken up until now. "How are we going to get to the North Pole?"

"We can try and see if we can get a ship somewhere." Zaheer added. "Red Lotus people that arranged our crossover to the North Pole when we came to free P'li are still there."

"Didn't the Red Lotus disband?" Korra asked suspiciously.

"They're still alive. I know someone who still gives people a free passage to the North Pole " Zaheer replied as he sat down in the lotus position. "If I could contact him I could ask him if he could give us a ride."

"You mean Gi? He was a fun guy." I smirked.

"Focus! This is a rescue mission, remember?" Dahlia said firmly.

"About that; I think it's for the best you and your daughter go to Republic City with the Avatar and wait for us there." Xai Bau said as he looked from Dahlia to her daughter.

"Why?" Dahlia asked.

"This is going to be a dangerous mission and we don't want your daughter to get hurt." Xai Bau said.

"Why not send just her to Republic City with the Avatar then?" Dahlia asked.

"Because you're her mother. If something were to happen to you, she would have no one to take care of her." Xai Bau said.

"Okay then, but be carefull." Dahlia said sternly, giving me a hug as she spoke, I returned it.

"I promise I won't get killed." I smirked at her teasingly, which made her ruffle my hair in an affectionate way before we all went to prepare for the mission ahead of us.

Well, most others did, I was finished quickly, sat down and looked at the wall of the small room I found myself in, wondering where Ming was right now. I knew she would be doing well, most likely she was trying to escape right now. Would she be able to do so? Or would her captors know what they were up against?

 _Probably not, Ming managed to surprise us all with her power_

I thought with a smirk on my face.

 _I almost feel bad for those people_

I imagined them pleading for her to spare their lives.

"Okay, we're all set." Femke called, after which I walked out to the others. Dahlia took her daughter on the arm and walked to the Sky Bisons team Avatar had brought along to get here. Neat. I always wanted to find out what flying on a Sky Bison would feel like.

"I'm not getting on the one with the runny nose." I joked when I saw one of the two Sky Bison standing there with just that.

"That's Juicy. He does that all the time." Opal smiled as Femke walked up to Juicy and patted it on the nose.

"Not to bad until he sneezes." Femke smiled as she started, quickly taking cover as the bison sneezed. Zaheer managed to dodge in the nick of time but I got covered in green gunk.

"Well, there goes my favorite gi." I said.

"You look like a slime monster from back home." Femke replied with a smile on her face. Zaheer approached her, but stumlbed.

"Slime monsters? Sounds cool to fight." I smirked while I kept a stern eye on Zaheers legs, they weren't looking to bad. He seemed fit as ever despite the fact that we had been on the run from the moment he had come back to us.

 _I'm seeing things. It's not like he fainted ore anything_

I thought with a shrug as I followed the others and got onto the Sky Bison.

 ** _"Juicy, yip yip!"_** Opal called with a smile on her face as Femke took a spot in the saddle and placed her head against Zaheer's shoulder, smiling as she did so.

 ** _"Oogie yip yip._** " Tenzin called next to us, which caused both Bisons to take off at once. As we parted ways I saw my niece, who was on Oogie with Tenzin, the avatar and her friends as well as her mother look over the side into the deep with gleaming eyes while we headed the other way with Opal. Towards the coast and towards Ming.

 _Hang in there, Ming. We're on our way_

I thought as I looked at the coastline closing in on us, praying with all my might Ming was doing okay and that we would be able to find her soon.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you all liked it!

 ** _A/N:_**

On the advise of my beta reader I tried to tell the whole chapter from one POV, I hoped it worked out.

that was all for now! I hope you liked it!

Please leave a review.

 _ **Beta Read by Paranoidgirl**_


	24. Chapter 24: minna and tang hua

Chapter 24: Minna and tang hua

 _ **Ming hua's POV**_

"where am I?" I groaned as I slowly tried to get up and use my water arms to rub over my head but I couldn't bend my water arms into place like I usual could.

 _There's no water around…_

I thought as I sat up and looked around. Everything around me was pitch black and no sign of the others. Even worse, when I looked down I saw my prostethic legs were tied together.

 _How did I get stuck here?_

I thought as I looked around, vaguely remembering being struck, but nothing beyond that.

 _Got captured. Just my luck_

I thought as I looked around for a way to escape. I was alone and the door would obviously be locked.

 _Gotta get myself outta here_

I thought as I closed my eyes and concentrated, hoping I would be able to conjure up a gust of wind to straighten myself. Nothing. Maybe they chi-blocked me.

"It seems she has woken up." A man dressed in blue with a mask called as he and a few others entered the small room I was in.

"Good! We have arrived." Another man said as he looked at me with a smirk on his face while two others raised me onto my legs then untied my them. Big mistake.

"She's still dangerous so look out." One of them said, which made me smirk as I pulled myself away from them and make a run towards the door. However, I missed one of the men that was standing in a corner of the room and before I could react I was on the floor.

 _ **"What is going on here?"**_ I heard a voice call above me that sounded familiar but I couldn't remember from where. My head must have been hit really hard for me to forget things like.

"She was trying to make a run for it." One of my captors apologized. _He sounded scared. Good._

"Your orders were to not harm her." The familiar voice said as two arms were wrapped around me and I felt a body against mine.

"It was just a little bump on the head. Give her some rest and she'll be fine." A female voice, also sounding very familiar said, it was close. The person holding me.

 _Why is she cuddling me?_

I thought annoyed while I tried to open my eyes. they were refusing to obey me fully so I could only see two vague figures above me. A little grey one with a beard and one with a similar hairstyle to my own.

 _"Mom? Dad?"_ I whispered when I recognized them right before I passed out again.

 _ **Ghazan's POV**_

After a while of traveling on Juicy, we managed to reach the coast where a friend and member of the former Red Lotus was with a boat that would be able to get us to the North Pole and hopefully to Ming.

 _ **"There it is!"**_ Xai Bau smiled as he walked to the small harbor port were our friend Lee Tong was working, who looked up quite surprised as we walked towards him. Figures, he must have thought we were dead.

"Good to see you again, Lee." I called to the older man like it had been yesterday I had seen him, not three years.

"Good to see you, you people aren't dead any more." Lee Tong smirked as he looked at us, his eyes resting om Femke, who was standing next to zaheer.

"Who's the newbie?" Lee asked with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Femke. She joined us three years ago in the midst of our second attempt to finish the mission." Zaheer smiled."Saving us more than once before we all quit. Our mission was doomed to fail and probably right in the first place."

"I see." Lee smiled as he shook Femke's hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lee Tong, Red Lotus sailor."

"I'm Femke." Femke smiled as she shook his hand.

"He is also the one that got us to the North Pole when we went to get P'li back." I added.

"Why do you want to cross over this time?" Lee asked as he looked over the team gathered.

"Ming was captured, we believe she's taken to the North Pole." Xai Bau said.

"I can bring you to the other shore right now." Lee smiled as he patted an old rusty looking boat bobbing in the water behind him, I remembered it from our last travel the North Pole to save P'li.

 _"We have the layout of her prison. I can easily get to the roof and get her out." Ming Hua smiled as she pointed the place out on the map. "No need for all of us to go down."_

 _"Good, we will stay up and make sure no one will be able to get to you." Zaheer nodded._

 _"We're always there if you need backup." I offered, which made Ming look up at me firmly._

 _"I can handle myself." She said._

 _"Okay, let's make sure we have enough rocks with us for Ghazan and keep cover until the very last moment." Zaheer said. "Ming and I can create a snowstorm for cover."_

 _"All set to go." I said. Everyone looked worried._ _"We covered up every flaw. We're ready" I added firmly._

 _"I will go over the plan once more and call if anything else comes up." Zaheer smiled, at which both Ghazan and Ming Hua nodded before they headed off. That mission thankfully succeeded and we got P'li back with us._

"The sooner we're there the sooner we might be able to help Ming if she needs it." Zaheer said, bringing me back.

"Really? If i know one thing it is that that woman can defend herself." Lee Tong smirked.

"Those people are taking her back to her parents." Xai Bau said. "There might be some trauma there that might impede her."

"She'll pull through." Lee said before he went to start the boat.

 _I will rest a lot easier when she's back with us._ _I miss her wit_

I thought as I looked out over the ocean to the place were we hoped Ming was.

 _ **Ming hua's POV**_

"Ming? Wake up." A voice called above me, which made me groan as I my head was throbbing.

"Can you hear me?" A female voice asked this time. Which made me look up at the owner of the voice with an annoyed face.

"You should know better then to be worried about me." I started but stopped when I saw it wasn't femke who looked at me but my mother Minna. _**Oh no.**_

 _How did I end up here? All i remember is a hit on the head and some idiot getting screamed at for it_

I thought, as it crossed my mind what must have happened.

 _As soon as night falls, I'm out of here_

I thought as I looked at my parents sternly while they appeared worried. I knew better. They fooled me once when I was a child and that will never happen again.

I gave my parents a small smile.

"Mom, dad, good to see you again." I said.

"Sorry for the way to get you here. We heard a lot happened and we wanted to see you again so badly. We have been so worried." Tang Hua said as he looked at his daughter sternly, while my mother put a hand on my cheek.

 _Nice try. You don't give a damn about me. You made that clear last time I saw you._

I thought as I tried to keep myself from rolling my eyes at them.

"You're so skinny. When was the last time you had a proper meal?" My mother asked me as she traced my cheekbones with her fingers.

"I was going to, until I got abducted." I replied coldly, not at all believing their act.

"You know what I mean." My mother said me as she gave my father a stern look over my shoulder.

"Well enough. I have people who care now." I said.

"Then how come you're so skinny?" My father asked sternly.

"I've been in prison for thirteen years and I don't have to tell what happened before that." I said coldly, which made my parents look at each other sadly, nodding before they hugged me.

"We know dear. That caused us so much pain and guilt after you left us." My mother said as she looked at me with tears in her eyes. "We are so sorry for what we did. We just wanted to make you stronger."

 _And Bear Pigs can fly_

I thought as my both parents embraced me, something they hadn't done since before I learned I was a waterbender.

"We never wanted to harm you. Please believe us." My father begged as he held on to me, for once not to harm me. This made it harder for me to distrust them. I also needed them to believe I was going to stay if I wanted to make sure I could get out of here on my own. I nodded and let them hug me for a while before my mother went to make dinner and my father stayed by my side and wanted to hear everything about the adventures I had. I gladly did, leaving out most of the needless details. He didn't have to know about everything. Only the things I had done ever since I had managed to get away. No need to tell them about the Red Lotus. I was no longer that person anyway.

"And that's how I ended up back here." I ended the story a few hours later.

"What a tale." My mother smiled.

"If that femke hadn't been around our little girl had been dead. And fairies? Who knew." Father said.

"That was my reaction as well at first but in time I learned magic." I said.

"Who knows. We might meet them someday." Minna Hua smiled as she got up. "How about we go to sleep now? It's rather late."

"You might meet them sooner than you think. They're on their way here as we speak." I said. "They're probably worried sick about me."

"Why? You've always been able to handle yourself." My mother smiled at me while we entered what used to be my room. which was exactly like it used to be.

"That doesn't mean they can't be worried. That's what people who care for you do. " I said as I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"If they come they're welcome to stay for a while. That way we at least get to meet the people that helped you get through the things we did to you." My mother smiled as she unrolled my sleeping bag for me after getting it from where I had stashed it before I had left, together with a note.

 _Hey Mom and Dad_

 _I'm sorry I turned out to be such a disappointment._

 _I will leave and not come back before I'm sure you will be proud of me_

 _Love_

 _Ming Hua_

The note was gone, though. Running away was something I will never regret, it made me much stronger and had given me friends that cared about the real me. Something that couldn't be said about my parents. No matter how hard they tried, I could still feel they're not proud of me. They're just acting.

 _As long as I manage to get away_

I thought as I allowed my mother to tuck me in, which was something she had never done before, and handed me a bucket of water.

"Good night, dear." My mother smiled at me as she stroked over my hair. "Sweet dreams."

"Good night." I said, not wanting to let on what I was planning but as soon as I lied down and pretended to fall asleep, a drowsiness came over me.

They must have put something in my food. _Why didn't I notice? Why wasn't I more…?_

I thought, but I couldn't even finish that thought before I fell in a deep sleep.

 _I was all alone in my old family home. I could hear my parents outside talking to somebody else, which I saw as a chance to look in a drawer my dad always kept locked. As quickly and silently as possible I opened the drawers lock by using a little ice in my water arms, which resulted in a soft_ _ **'click'**_ _very soon._

 _Finally. Now what were they hiding?_

 _I thought as I opened the drawer and peeked inside. In it lied a locket. All alone and forgotten about._

 _Why is a locket lying in here all forgotten?_

 _I thought as I opened it and looked inside, gasping at the beautiful picture of a man and a woman with royal clothing that held a baby on the arm at which they looked lovingly. Like they really loved the baby. The strangest thing was; the baby had no arms, just like me._

 _"_ _Gallor and Ami are the names of the former leaders of our tribe." My aunt Ting had once told me when she had visited me._

 _"Were they nice?" I remember asking._

 _"_ _Yes they were. Did you know they had a daughter as well?" My Aunt replied with a mysterious smile on her face._

 _"Really?" I had asked with a smile on my face._

 _"Yes, but she was taken away right after she was born. That was three years ago." My aunt had answered._

 _"Did they find her? I asked._

 _"She was never found." Aunt Ting said, strangely enough with a smile on her face._

 _Could it be she was trying to tell me that I used to be the daughter?_

 _I thought I suddenly saw a woman with grey hair stand in the doorway, looking at me sadly after which the locket appeared before my eyes again and I could hear a song;_

 _Polar Bear Dogs play in the sun, happy and carefree_

 _so_ _meday you will know how the world became, just like me_

 _I will be here to love and guide you as the sun will rise high_

 _I will always be there until the day I die_

 _Polar Bear Dog, Polar Bear Dog, play in the sun_

 _Growing up and having fun_

 _You're so small and you're so young, unaware of what's around you_

 _But you will be saved and you will be loved, by those who stand around you_

I sat up and looked around when that dream had ended. That was one crazy dream.

 _Why would I remember that nonsense about a lost princess? Royalty. While I spent my adult life being an Anarchist. That would be rich_

I thought as I bended my water arms in place and got up. When I entered the living room I saw my mother was making breakfast and my father was reading the newspaper.

"Hey." I yawned as I walked to the door and looked outside; it was clear, but on the North Pole that meant nothing. One moment the air could be clear and the next you could be in the midst of a snowstorm.

"Good morning. Breakfast is almost ready." My mother called, which made me do a double take. Breakfast? She hadn't made me breakfast in forever. What was going on here?

"Right." I replied before I walked out the door and looked around. The village of Hanuda hadn't changed one bit since I had last seen it. There were still only a few igloos with children running around them. The biggest one in the middle I recognized as the school. For the rest there was not much here. Except for all the criminals.

 _"Good thing I'm used to it."_ I smirked as I walked around the village, inspecting wares at a local market before I returned home just as my mother served some breakfast.

"Just in time." My mother smiled as she served me a bowl of breakfast.

"Breakfast?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow, not used to them being this kind to me.

"We're sorry and want to turn over a new leaf." My mother smiled, but it was a clear fake.

 _Like I trust you_

I thought as I sat down and started to eat. It tasted awfully good but I was on too them. I wasn't falling for it as I pretended to enjoy the food my mother made me I thought of a few ways to get out. I knew the village well enough. Or I could use the tunnel I dug last time.

"Someone's hungry." My father commented with a smile on his face as ate my food.

"I barely ate yesterday, thanks to you." I commented dryly. After which my mother gave me a second bowl of food. She never did that before. _What was going on here?_

"You should eat some more, then." My mother smiled.

 _That was weird_

I thought as i ate my second bowl of food slower. While doing so noticed how my parents looked at me. They were… happy?

 _Did they drug it? Too obvious._

I wondered as I sniffed it. _Nothing. Good._

 _What's their plan?_

I thought as I got up after breakfast was done to take a stroll around the village, maybe train a little. Anything besides being with my parents. I had to escape.

"Want to go for a spar?" My father asked, coming out of our home.

"No thanks." I replied as I turned and looked at him. "Can I go for a walk? A **_real_** one?"

"Let me join you. I haven't taken a walk with you since you were a little girl." My father smiled as he wrapped a arm around my waist and started to walk along with me. Great, now I couldn't plan my escape.

 _Gotta shake him off_

I thought as we walked.

"You had your reasons." I said, smiling, hoping he would fall for it. "I won't be a bother. I just want to take a walk around the outside of the village. I'll be back in a little while."

"Your mother will understand. I want to show you a few improvements made to the village." My father insisted, holding on to me firmly as we walked.

After the walk and we had a sparring session in which my father didn't yell at me one my parents tucked me in. _Must've drugged my food again._

 _That's what I get for being distracted..._

Were my last thoughts before I passed out.

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And with that I end the chapter. I hope you all liked it!

Thanks for reading and thanks Paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review.**_


	25. Chapter 25: to the north pole

Chapter 25: To the North Pole

 **Normal POV**

The boat had almost reached the shore of the North Pole were their friend was. On the ship everybody was getting ready for the fight that was sure to come. When she was done, Femke retreated to the front of the ship to enjoy the breeze on he face for a while. Until Zaheer walked up to her.

"Ready, Femke?" He asked, smiling as he came to stand next to her.

"Yes but I'm not sure if we should just barge in. What if they have changed and just wanted to see Ming?" Femke asked as she looked up worriedly.

"Then why would they send men to kidnap her away from her friends instead of just sending a letter?" Zaheer asked as she looked at his girlfriend skeptically.

"Maybe they had no idea where to send the messenger hawk to?" Femke shrugged as she looked at Noatak talking to P'li a little distance from were they were standing.

"Those hawks are trained to find whoever they had a message for. One even managed to find Sokka wherever the team went if I read it correctly." Zaheer protested. Femke had no answer to that. She remembered Sokka's messenger hawk had indeed always managed to find them wherever they were while traveling around the world.

"You got me there." Femke smiled as she gave her boyfriend a playful shove.

"We'll find out in a few hours." Zaheer smiled as he placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder just as Ghazan had managed to instal the magic receiver on one of their radios, allowing them to get music from Earth as well as from Magix.

"I'm glad Ghazan's starting to figure out how to use magic on electronics. I'm dying for some earth music." Femke sighted as she looked at Ghazan tuning around with a smile on her face. "Maybe it will help me clear my head."

"You think there will be any good songs?" Zaheer started, but stopped as the small radio started to pick up a song.

"Looks like there are." Ghazan smirked as he turned up the volume.

"Good. Time for some music." Zaheer smiled as a song started to play Femke knew very well;

 _Take my hand, take a breath_

 _Pull me close and take one step_

 _Keep your eyes locked on mine,_

 _And let the music be your guide._

 _Won't you promise me (now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)_

"I always loved this song!" Femke said as she started to hum along until Zaheer made a small, playful bow.

"May I have this Dance?" He asked with a teasing smile on his face, making Femke smile back.

"But of course." Femke teased as she made a small curtsey.

 _We'll keep dancing (to keep dancing) wherever we go next_

 _It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do_

 _ **"Go Femke!"**_ Lenny smirked as Femke and Zaheer danced to the music. _**"Since when can you dance?"**_

"Since she was, like, sixteen. Don't you ever pay attention?" Floxy commented, smirking as he wrapped an arm around Sapphire.

"I heard she was good at it." Sapphire added.

 _And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

 _So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

 _Can I have this dance_

"Want show them what we got?" Femke asked before she tripped over her dress.

"Sure thing." Zaheer smirked, quickly catching her, both of their eyes gleaming as Zaheer looked at her, thinking how beautiful she looked in the light of the setting sun before they started to dancing professionally, making everybody gather around to watch.

 _Take my hand, I'll take the lead_

 _And every turn will be safe with me_

 _Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_

 _You know I'll catch you through it all_

 _And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)_

 _'Cause my heart is (cause my heart is) wherever you are_

"Showoffs" Ghazan said, looking to the side a little sad when there was silence.

 _I miss Ming..._

Ghazan thought as he looked to the side sadly.

"We'll get her back, don't worry." Tziza said as she got next to Ghazan and looked at Femke and Zaheer dance.

 _It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do_

 _And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

 _So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

 _Can I have this dance_

 _Oh no mountains too high enough, oceans too wide_

As the music sang this femke grabbed noatak by his hands, smiling while zaheer took a blushing p"li by her both hands, making them dance along now, do a little clumsily…

 _'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop._

 _Let it rain, let it pour_

 _What we have is worth fighting for_

 _You know I believe, that we were meant to be…_

On the last bit femke and zaheer grabbed each other, causing noatak to end with p"li, who blushed deeply as she looked him in the eye.

 _"It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you (like you)_

 _It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do (way we do)_

Smiling, Noatak also bowed as he and P'li started to dance as well, leaving the others to watch.

"They're good." Ghazan commented.

"Zaheer was drilled with these formal dances for years before he became a Red Lotus" Xai Bau smiled as he watched his nephew dance with his beloved.

"I keep forgetting he was rich at one point." Ghazan said as he looked at the two of them. "Explains a lot."

 _And with every step together, we just keep on getting better._

"Instead of looking at the pros you'd do better to look at P'li." Tziza said as she pointed at P'li dancing with Noatak.

 _So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)_

 _Can I have this dance_

 _Can I have this dance_

 _Can I have this dance_

"What a cute couple." Ghazan smirked.

"They only met yesterday. You of all people should know such things take time." Xai said as the song stopped and they stopped dancing.

"Give it some time." Tziza said.

"You two look cute together." Femke teased. "I'm okay with it if you like him, if that's gotten you worried."

"You'd better be, given how you're dating Zaheer." P'li teased back.

"Since when do people need each other's permission to date?" Zaheer asked.

"I was a little afraid she would get really mad at me if I would tell you how I felt about you without asking her if she was ok with that." Femke smiled as she gave Zaheer a kiss. "I don't want to anger my best friend."

"You better not." P'li said with a smirk on her face.

"I don't fancy ending as a Headless Maiden." Femke smirked teasingly as P'li turned red, making Femke gulp. "Have to run." She said before doing just that.

 _ **"Get back here!**_ " P'li called as she chased Femke, who used her airbending to dash up and down the boat, much to everybody else's amusement.

"Glad to see everyone isn't on edge about what we're doing." Xai Bau smiled.

"Is she always like that?" Tziza asked as she looked at Femke being held in a headlock by P'li.

"Femke? Yes." Zaheer smiled as he looked at the two girls laughing and playing around.

"She already meant a lot to you back then, right?" Tziza asked.

"It's strange. I've only known her for three years." Zaheer replied with a smile as he watched Femke and P'li fool around on the back of the ship. "Yet to me it feels like she had always been with us."

"That's a yes." Tziza smiled, before she looked at Xai Bau at the other end of the ship, looking at the sea with sadly. "Xai Bau means a lot to you as well."

"He shouldn't have lied." Zaheer huffed.

"He had a reason. His brother would have been hurt otherwise." Tziza said as she looked at Zaheer firmly, causing him to look at her with a mix of shock and realization.

"You knew as well?" He asked, at which Tziza nodded.

"Xai Bau was devastated by your arrest." Tziza said. "Like every uncle would."

"Not enough to come help us." Zaheer huffed in reply.

"You think it would have worked?" Tziza challenged.

"Perhaps, but if he cared so much, he could have shown that by at least trying." Zaheer said while crossing his arms.

"You can't always risk everyone's life to save that of another." Tziza remarked sharply.

"I get it" zaheer nodded as he looked up sadly. "Despite the risk, you could have tried. You two have always been lucky."

"You need more than luck to make it in this world." Tziza said crossing her arms. "And if any of you had said something, everything would have been for nothing."

"We haven't." Zaheer smirked. "They got nothing out of us."

"In any case, your uncle had no choice then to keep silent about you being his nephew. It tore him apart inside." Tziza said as she placed a hand on Zaheer's arm. "I think he's punished enough."

With these words Tziza walked off, leaving Zaheer to think while the watched the girls practice their dancing skills together, Noatak watching them smiling as the girls were getting better at it.

 _Not a surprise, Femke is a great teacher_

Zaheer thought smiling as he looked at the two women interacting. Until he noticed something; Femke had started to float with her airbending while she and P'li were dancing and P'li was airbending along with her.

" _What?"_ Femke gasped when she noticed as well, looking down at their feet, shocked.

"What is it?" P'li asked as she looked down as well now, gasping when she saw the air swirling around them.

 _ **"You're airbending!"**_ Femke squealed in delight, stopping airbending herself to show P'li this was all her own doing.

"I've gotten my second element! I'm soaring through them." She smirked.

"Couldn't help yourself there?" Femke asked with a smile of her own.

"No." P'li smirked.

"And they call me silly." Femke answered.

"You're falling behind, Noatak." Tarrlok smirked.

"You too." Noatak smiled as he watched the two woman started to practice.

"I had two, until someone decided to take that away." Tarrlok noted.

"Does that count?" Noatak asked.

 _ **"It sure does!"**_ Femke replied, which made everybody laugh.

 _ **"We're arriving in a few minutes."**_ Ilene called as she and the other two voortrix girls came from the Captain's cabin.

 _ **"Hang on!"**_ Ghazan called before rushing below deck.

"I still have some things to attend to." Tziza said before she also left.

"Race you to the front, P'li." Femke said.

"Alright!" P'li said.

"We're going to see if we can help the captain." Ilene nodded, taking Dizzanna and Selvia along. This left Zaheer alone with Xai Bau.

"Tziza still knows how to clear a room." Xai Bau commented with a smirk on his face, looking to the side only to realize Zaheer had walked to the front of the boat looking at the coast closing in on them.

"I know you're angry at me and you have all the right to." Xai Bau sighed, leaning on the railing along with his nephew. "I would have been as well."

"Despite that you did as my father told you to." Zaheer replied coldly.

"Because I wouldn't have forgiven myself if he had gotten hurt." Xai Bau said as he looked down. "Your mother would have kept her word."

"I know. It could have killed him." zaheer admitted now. "But if Tziza knew, why not let her _'accidently'_ slip who you were?"

"I couldn't tell anyone. Not even her." Xai Bau said as he looked out over the sea sadly. "I still feel horrible about it."

"As you should for lying to me for over a decade." Zaheer said. "As a silver lining, because of you I now understand why Femke got so upset about me lying."

"Three times." Xai Bau said.

"It was for the sake of the mission. But a lie is a lie and I shouldn't have." Zaheer admitted as he looked down.

"You've grown a lot. You're not that naïve teenager from a rich family I met all those years ago." Xai Bau smiled as he placed a hand on Zaheer's shoulder. "You've learned a lot from the world around you. More than you could have ever learned if you stayed at home."

"That's for certain. The world around me made me who I am today. I was learning from the things I saw. And from the mistakes I made." Zaheer smiled as he saw the coast close in. "Freedom through chaos can't be achieved. I know that now. But all the things we accomplished in between. From meeting the others until the moment Femke saved us. I don't regret it. They're the best friend anyone could wish for."

"You all grew a lot. As a team and individuals."Xai Bau said. "I'm proud of what you chose to do. It can't have been easy. You did what was best for everyone."

"We made a wise decision to stop. But it wasn't easy to give up on the mission we prepared for for over a decade." Zaheer admitted with a small smile. "If we hadn't we would have died."

"Or back in prison." Xai Bau said "I am truly sorry if I hurt you."

"I now know why." Zaheer smiled as he looked up at his uncle. "I forgive you."

"Let's go save Ming." Xai Bau said as he gave his nephew a friendly shove, causing Zaheer to stumble to the side but he managed to stabilize himself quickly.

"Are you alright?" The Red Lotus founder asked with a stern look.

"I'm fine, nothing to be worried about." Zaheer smiled, thanking the spirits when Lee Tong called they had arrived right before his uncle could ask more questions.

"Alright, let's do this." Ghazan said.

"We'll get Ming back. I'm sure of it." Femke nodded, after which everyone exited the boat, intending to do just that.

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That was all for this chapter! I hope you all liked it.

The song being used is _'Can I have this dance?'_ from the movie _'High School Musical'._

Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as a beta reader and advisor. Without her this story had never gotten this far.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	26. Chapter 26: the locket of dreams

Chapter 26: the locket of dreams

a few days had passed and every night my parents drugged my food and make me fall asleep. I didn't want to be here. They pretend to care so hard it's nauseating. I'd do anything to be around Ghazan by now.

 ** _"Ming! I'm going to shop in the next town over, do you need anything?"_** My mother called, which made me groan and bend my water arms into place before I sat up in my old room. My plush Ammy sat in the corner and smiled at me as I looked up.

 _ **"I'm fine, just let me sleep."**_ I called, groaning when I saw it was only five in the morning. It was a two hour travel until mom was in another village. She always departed early so she was back in time for lunch.

"Alright. Your father is is outside training if you need something. I'll bring fish for lunch." My mother called before I felt she went away.

 _Good riddance_

I thought as I lied down again and stared at the ceiling.

 _I should plan my escape. I can handle dad on my own. I will be long gone by the time mom comes back_

 _This was the best chance I had at escaping._

 _Unless those hired goons are still nearby_

I thought as I got up and got myself dressed before I walked into the main area of the house and looked around.

 _Better stay out of sight until I'm sure they're gone_

Nobody in the living room, good. I could hear my mother was still talking to my father outside. Figures. She would head out soon and then I would make my move.

 _What to do until she goes away…_

I thought as I looked around for a moment until my eyes fell on a drawer that I had seen in my dream. One that in my youth had always been locked.

 _"We keep our important papers in there. Nothing to see for a_ _ **nosy**_ _child."_ My mother had snapped at me when I had asked what was in that drawer nut something inside me had always felt something wasn't right. The way my mother had looked at me when she had told me that was off. Like she had been trying to hide something from me.

 _They're not going anywhere, might as well go look_

I thought as I walked to the drawer and used some ice to pick the lock open. In a flash the dream I had last night shot through my head but I ignored it and opened the drawer. It was just a dream.

 _Let's see what they tried to hide from me_

I thought as I looked in the open drawer, seeing nothing but papers.

 _Figures_

I started but stopped when I lifted up some of the papers, revealing a photo and _ **the same locket I had seen in my dreams!**_

 _Don't let this mean what I think it means_

I thought as I looked at the locket closer, carefully made ice fingers as to not get water on the photo. It was a really old picture. And on it was a woman that looked similar to me as well as a man with a long grey and black beard and in the center, on the woman's lap lied **_a baby without arms!_** Wearing a beautiful blue dress with light ruffles around the places her arms would have been, smiling as she looked up at the camera.

 _This has to be a trick. That can't be me. It just can't_

I thought as I studied the photo closely to see if it was tampered with but that wasn't the case. It had to be. That couldn't possibly be me. That girl looked so happy. So _**l**_ _ **oved.**_

 _That's not me. We look alike, but that's not me_

I thought as I closed the locket and looked at the Kanji on the front that said _'minghua'_ not _ming hua_ which was my name.

 _Just a space of difference. That's too obvious to be true_

I sighed.

 _The princes has no arms as well and the mother looks awful lot like you_

another voice in my head said as I looked at the picture one more time. I had to admit that was true.

 _This can't be true. Me, royalty? No way_

I thought as i shook my head before I closed the locket again and walked to a mirror in the corner of the room.

 _They probably just stole it from the royal palace to sell it and forgot about it_

I started my thought but stopped when I held the locket in front of my chest, which struck an awfully familiar cord in my brain, an image of a younger version of Tonraq that put the locket around my neck with a smile on his face, then the faces of the former king and queen above me, smiling at me lovingly as they reached for me.

 _This has to stop. It's getting ridiculous_

I thought to myself sternly as I placed the locket back in the drawer, turning around just too late to see my father, who smacked me in the face hard.

 _ **"You rat! We welcomed you back with open arms and**_ _ **this**_ _ **is what we get in return?"**_ My father snapped as he towered over me, bringing back painful memories.

"It just fell out." I quickly made up, my heart racing. "I wasn't gonna steal from my own family."

"Dear, I think she's telling the truth." My mother's voice came from out of the doorway. Wasn't she heading for the next town over? This came to me as I got up and took stance, ready to defend myself.

 _ **"I locked that drawer like i always do!"**_ Tang said as he looked at me firmly.

"Everybody forgets things from time to time. It's only human." My mother smiled before she looked at me. "And it's only normal she is still a little suspicious after all that happened."

"So what is this, anyway?" I asked sternly as I got the locket from the drawer, making them back away in shock.

"It's a locket. A keepsake." My mother smiled as she walked to me.

"We stole this one from the royal palace and changed the name." My father smiled as he placed a hand on the locket. "For when we would be **_proud_** of you."

 ** _"What about the armless girl in the picture? Coincidence?"_** I snapped. If I had learned one thing within the Red Lotus it was how to pick up when people were lying to me.

"Exactly." My father smiled as I heard noises outside. There was a fight going on.

"Liar." I said when I saw he twitched his eyes as he said this.

"So?" My father suddenly said as my mother got a knife from her pocket. "You won't be able to tell other people." and with that my mother struck at me with the knife, which I managed to dodge.

"Want to bet?" I smirked as I struck back with a whip of wind, quickly followed by a blast of wind, dodging and striking wherever I could as I ran to the door, opening it and revealing my friends fighting those guards that brought me here.

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _ **"Ming!"**_ Femke exclaimed happily when she saw her friend standing in the doorway of a building, unharmed.

"Next time you throw a party, send us a invitation." Ghazan joked as he knocked two men from the same truck they had used to free P'li.

"Let's make sure there can be a next time, first." Ming Hua commented as she airbended a few soldiers away and made her way towards her friends.

"Missed you too." Ghazan smirked as he lavabended a few more enemies away before heading over to Ming to give her a kiss.

"Save it for later, we have things to do." Ming Hua snapped, shoving Ghazan to the side before she threw a few more men off guard with airbending.

"Still had time to practice while you were here?" Femke asked as she dodged a few enemies then knocked them away with a flood of water she made from the snow.

"Had to do something to not get bored." Ming Hua said. "What took you so long?"

"We had to do things the official way. That took a while." Femke said with a shrug as she managed to make a little moat of lava, which made some enemies back away in fear.

"Since when do we things the _'official' way?"_ Ming Hua questioned as she kept swiping at every moving enemy.

"Since we promised to change." Femke smiled as she blocked an attack, allowing Ming to use a water whip to finish them of.

"Let's try to keep that promise." Ghazan commented as he blocked an attack from Tang Hua, who now also had joined the fight, while Minna faced off against Xai Bau and Zaheer.

"Can we go now?" Ming Hua asked.

"Great idea." Femke replied as she airbended more enemies away after which she used a combustion blast to make a path towards Zaheer and Xai Bau.

 ** _"Nice one!"_** Zaheer called as he firebended alongsides his girlfriend towards Minna and Tang hua, who looked at each other, shocked.

"They all have more than one element? **_How?!_** " Tang Hua questioned as he looked at his wife, who just looked confused as well.

"That's impossible, only the Avatar can do that." Minna commented as she dodged the attacks coming her way from all sides now with her dagger out.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Tarrlok smirked while he and his brother stood back to back dodging and striking wherever they could.

 _ **"They've got backup coming!"**_ Ilene called from the back of the truck were she and her friends stood, defending their escape vehicle.

 _ **"We have to get out before that backup arrives."**_ Femke called as she struck a few enemies away from Zaheer, whom they had wanted to attack in the back. **_"Back off from my boyfriend!"_**

 _ **"Thanks!"**_ Zaheer said.

"No problem!" Femke smiled as she air jumped out of the way of two incoming enemies.

 _ **"Incoming!"**_ Ghazan called as he launched a few enemies in the air with his Earthbending that were sneaking up on Femke.

"Got it!" Femke smirked, using a flood of water to freeze them while hanging upside down. "That is just because we turned over a new leaf." She continued with a wink before she dashed off to airbend a few guys away from Zaheer.

"thanks!" zaheer said before losing his balance again and had to hold on to Femke to steady himself.

"After we're done here you're going to see a doctor." Femke said as she looked at her boyfriend firmly, punching an enemy who wanted to attack her in the back.

 _ **"I'm busy here."**_ The brunette said firmly as she looked up at the man.

"It's not that bad. Really." Zaheer defended, smirking as they got back to back to fending off more enemies. "I just lose my balance every now and then. It's annoying but nothing to worry about."

"Maybe." Femke said as she smacked more enemies away. "Still, better safe than sorry." Femke said.

"These guys are tough." Tarrlok sighted as he sat up while P'li helped Noatak back on his feet.

"There is too many of them. Even if we transformed we wouldn't be able to beat them all." P'li said as the group closed in on them.

"I am not giving up." Ming said firmly. **_"Voortrix transform!"_** She called as she made a 'V' sign with her water arms, which made her turn into her fairy form.

"How big is the chance that they're under some sort of spell?" Zaheer asked as he transformed as well.

"A spell might be one of the reasons they're like this." Femke replied as she and the others transformed as well.

"And the other reason?" Ghazan asked.

"That their really this strong and will be really pissed by now." Femke said as she transformed before she flew up in the air with the others.

 _ **"Fairy dust!"**_ The seven enchantix fairies called, which made each of their signature emblems appear after which dust started to rain down on the group of enemies as well as the remainder of the group on the ground.

"Amazing." Xai Bau smiled as he and Tziza looked at the powder falling on their heads.

"It's way better than when it was used against me." Noatak smirked as he looked up at his half sister with a smile on his face.

"Your half sister is quite the powerful fairy."

"You can say that again." Tarrlok smirked, cringing away when he saw how stern his older brother looked at him.

"Be glad it isn't you." Xai Bau smiled as he placed a hand on each of the two men's shoulder. "We better focus on getting away from here."

"Sounds like a plan to me. _**Voortrix lightning!"**_ Femke called when the fairy dust had done its work. The men were a lot weaker now and easier to take out, which left only Minna and Tang Hua.

"Give us our daughter and nobody gets hurt." Tang Hua said as he looked at the group with loathing.

"Never! Ming is our friend and we care for her deeply." Femke snapped back as she smiled at Ming. "We'll always got your back of you need us."

"Appreciate it." Ming smiled.

"Then your friend will be the cause of your _ **demise.**_ " Tang Hua growled as he got a knife and launched himself at the group. Within seconds Ming stood between the group and her parents and air bended the man away from her friends.

 _ **"You're not touching my friends!"**_ Ming said firmly as she deflected the attack. Then dodged her mother who attacked with another knife.

 _ **"We have to get her back!"**_ Tang Hua growled as he helped his wife get up.

"I know we need the money from our Lord." Minna started but stopped as her husband looked at her firmly, signing her to shut up.

"That's _**classified**_ information, remember?" Tang said, at which his wife nodded.

"Your Lord?" Femke said as she looked down for a moment, before her head snapped up in realization. "Lord Unalaq. _**You're working for Unalaq!?"**_

"Figures." Ming Hua said, rolling her eyes.

"What does he want with them?" Ghazan asked, causing Xai Bau to look down, pondering.

"They're top notch thieves. Best in a village filled with them." Xai Bau replied. "Probably has something to do with that."

"They _**stole**_ me as a baby." Ming Hua snapped as she got the locket from under her dress and showed it. "Found this in their stuff."

"You _ **stole**_ it." Tang Hua said as he took a step towards Ming, who didn't back away.

"I think this _**mine**_ to begin with." Ming Hua said as she looked at the people before her sternly. "I'm _**not**_ your real daughter _**am I**_?"

"You _**are**_ and we tried to make up for what we did but it seems it is ** _impossible_** to undo the damage." Minna Hua said as she looked at Ming with tears in her eyes.

"Then why do you attack like this?" Ming Hua asked firmly.

"You were stealing from us. From your own flesh and blood." Minna Hua said with tears in her eyes as she walked to her daughter. " _ **Please,**_ we do care for you."

"You're not being subtle about your lies." Noatak said as he came to stand next to Ming Hua.

 _ **"Start telling the truth. Who am I? Where did you steal me from?"**_ Ming raged.

 _ **"We are telling the truth."**_ Tang Hua snapped back as he took a step towards Ming Hua, who flinched. "You're _**our**_ daughter. You're _ **not**_ stolen and you'll come and live with _**us**_ again. _**That's final.**_ " Tang Hua said as his men got up again and surrounded the team

 _ **"I'd rather die."**_ Ming Hua snapped.

"Don't encourage them."Ghazan replied as he got ready to fight again.

 _"We have to end this quickly. I'm exhausted._ " Femke whispered as she got a smoke bomb from her back pocket.

 _"We have to get away_ _ **now**_ _or we won't live."_ Zaheer said as he took a step forward and took Femke by her hand.

 _"We'll make a distraction. Hold my hand, I'll get us all out of here."_ Femke whispered, causing more of the Red Lotus members to hold on to her.

 _ **"Take them down. Take them all down..."**_ Tang Hua started but stopped as something hit him on the back of his head hard from above, which made everyone look up, seeing to their shock and delight that it was Team Avatar along with Tenzin, Lin and Tonraq. The hard thing that had hit Tang on the head was a rock Bolin had thrown at him.

 _ **"You Sir are a horrible father!"**_ Bolin called, which made Femke chuckle a bit.

"Thanks for the save, we owe you one." Femke smiled after they had gotten off Oogie, while Lin and Mako tied up the Huas and loaded them in a police truck that also had arrived with Eska and Desna as well as some agents from the Northern water tribe.

"We figured you guys might need a hand." Asami smiled as she flipped her hair out of her face. "Looks like we got here just in time."

"We could have handled the situation just fine." Ming Hua said, sounding a little offended.

"From where I'm standing, we were screwed." Ghazan admitted.

"Please just shut up." Ming Hua growled at him with a firm look.

"Missed you too." Ghazan joked.

"What happened?" Korra asked.

"That's a long story." Femke started to tell what had happened while Zaheer walked back into the house together with P'li and some police officers to search it for stolen wares, as they did so the officers found something in the still opened drawer Ming Hua had gotten the locket from.

 _ **"Chief, we found something!"**_ They called as they ran outside holding an object in their hands which made everybody outside turn and look at what they were holding; a picture of a man a woman and a baby, all wearing royal dresses.

"We're taking these two to the capital for questioning." Lin said as Tonraq clapped his hand in front of his mouth in shock.

"Why?" Femke asked as she watched the two of them being hauled into the truck.

"That is one of the pictures made by the official royal photographer on the day of the birth of Princess" Tonraq replied as he looked at Femke with a pale face. "Only the royal family themselves should have even known about it."

"Why would they have it? Do you think they were involved?" Femke asked.

"They definitely were." Ghazan commented as he looked from the photo to Ming, realizing the princess on the photo had no arms.

 _"_ _They definitely were."_

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And with that I end the chapter. Next time you'll see how this continues.


	27. Chapter 27: The Akira-Ai family

Chapter 27: The Akira-Ai family

 _ **Ming Hua's POV**_

After we all went to the royal palace my supposed parents were taken to separate cells and interrogated by various members of the White Lotus. Neither of them said anything of note, only that they had wanted to get me back to give me a second chance but came back on that.

"Don't worry, we'll eventually get answers." Femke said with a calm smile as she placed a hand on my shoulder. It just annoyed me.

"Easy for you to say. _**Your**_ parents haven't _**lied**_ to you for your entire life." I snapped.

"I'm aware." Femke said. "Getting yourself worked up isn't going to make them talk."

"You listen to Zaheer too much," I told her as I looked to the side.

"That was actually from Tenzin." Femke said."The other bearded old guy."

"I'm not that old." Zaheer called, a little offended before he wrapped his arm around Femke. I just looked away and saw a couple of White Lotus guards coming out of the interrogation room.

"What did you get out of them?" I asked.

"They have only given their names and birthplace so far." The man said. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this."

"I sure _**hope**_ so." I snapped as I looked to the side.

"We will." A new voice called, which belonged to Tonraq, who looked at me firmly as he stood in the doorway. "If they have any information of the whereabouts of my missing niece we will get it out of them."

"About that..." Femke started as she walked to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Ming found something that might be a clue." Why did you say that? Now this guy whose daughter we nearly killed looked at me with narrowed eyes.

 _ **"Is that so?"**_ He asked firmly.

"I found this in a drawer of my supposed parents' house. I thought it might be something useful so I wore it to protect it from being seen." I said as I got the locket from my neck. It felt wrong taking it away. What did that mean?

"This was hers." Tonraq whispered as he looked at the locket with wide eyes. "This was the locket my niece got at her birth."

"So the princess has been at their house." Femke realized while P'li got next to me and wrapped an arm around me.

 _"Maybe she never left. Why don't you tell them about that dream you once had?"_ P'li whispered in my ear, which made me move away from her and shake my head fiercely.

 _ **"No!**_ _And how does a dream make me the princess?"_ I whispered back to her. _"The irony alone would be too painful."_

"Everything's possible. I've seen weirder." Femke said as she looked at Tonraq. "Do you have any more pictures of the princess?"

"We have one more but we need to go into her old nursery for it. Which means we have to ask my sister for permission." Tonraq said as he looked to the side sadly. "That place brings out bad memories for her. We should try and see if she's willing to allow us into the nursery to see a photo of my niece."

"Where is she?" Femke asked. "I didn't see her when I was in the palace last time, neither was she there when Unalaq visited the South Pole."

"She lives in a far corner of the palace were she has her own area." Tonraq explained. "She barely comes out of there. Only every now and then to attend official gatherings in the palace."

"Sounds rough." Ghazan said.

"It was her choice." Tonraq answered as the group walked to an unknown part of the palace.

"Why would she do such a thing?" Xai Bau asked as he came to walk next to Tonraq, who gave him a distrusting look.

"After the loss of her daughter, life just felt unfulfilling." Tonraq answered. "She just wanted to be left alone."

 _Can't really blame her_

I thought as I took a step towards a door that had a blue flower on it. Probably the nursery. I walked on with the others to the room in the far back of the hallway, which had a half-faded sign of a crown and underneath it an image of two playing polar bear dog pups.

 _Just like in that song that keeps coming up in my head_

I thought as Tonraq knocked on the door.

 _ **"Come in."**_ A voice called as Tonraq opened the door and let us in.

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this but there are a few people here that wanted to speak to you." Tonraq calmly said before he stepped to the side, which made me gasp in shock at the woman before me; _**she looked exactly like me.**_

 _Doesn't have to mean anything_

I thought as we all gave a small bow before the former queen.

"Everyone, this is my sister and former Queen; Ammi." Tonraq smiled as he looked at the woman next to him, who gave a small bow as Tonraq introduced us all.

"What do you want?" The woman asked as she sat down in a chair and looked at us.

"We need to get into the nursery. With your blessing, of course." Xai Bau spoke up, getting next to me and wrapping an arm around me. "we might have a clue about your daughter."

 _"_ _My daughter?"_ The queen gasped as she looked at our leader. "But she died years ago."

"Why are you so sure of that?" Femke asked.

"We found some of her clothes with blood on them in a polar bear dog den not far from the city." The queen said as she looked down sadly.

"That was all they found?" Tziza wanted to know. I agreed with this being very strange. I've known these animals up close. They don't eat humans unless they're very desperate.

"They found her bones. They were stripped clean." The queen replied, looking haunted by the memory.

"Could it have been a trick?" Tziza asked.

"No. That's impossible." The Queen stammered, looking down with tears in her eyes.

"It's possible." Tziza said as she got the picture from Tonraq and handed it to the Queen. "We found some valuable information about your daughter."

"I think you should listen to them. Even if they _ **did**_ try to kill your niece." Tonraq said.

"They did?" She asked shocked. Man, they must have kept her really isolated if she didn't know that.

"Until Femke came along and knocked some sense into us." Ghazan said.

"We truly regret what we did." Zaheer said as he looked down.

"Your niece is cool with us...I think." Ghazan tried.

 _"She doesn't want you dead."_ Tonraq growled under his breath.

"In any case, are we sure these bones belonged to the child?" Xai Bau asked.

"Also, polar bear dogs don't just strip bones clean." I added. "Their muzzles are too big for that. Haven't you ever seen your niece's up close?"

"She raised naga from when she was a pup." Tonraq said as he crossed his arms. "That makes her different."

"It's still the same animal." I said.

"A carnivorous animal that needs meat to sustain itself." Tonraq answered. "You can't stop biology."

"That's what people say to tell me I'm helpless because of how I was born." I protested.

"Besides, Ming got taken in by a Polar Bear dog once, right?" Ghazan added. Great, now that was out in the open, too.

"You were?" Queen Ammi asked as she looked at me with incredulity. "How come?"

"Ran away from home." I shrugged "A Polar Bear Dog found me and took me in as one of her own cubs. Nothing big."

"Why did you run away?" The queen asked, sounding unsettled by my attitude. She really was sheltered.

"They hated her." Ghazan said with a shrug.

"Poor woman." The queen said.

"I was used to it." I simply said.

"It still must have been horrible." The Queen said mournfully.

"Can't really do anything about it, so I don't let it bother me." I answered as I avoided her look, not at all liking her pity.

"Did you have no other family?" The queen wanted to know. _Why was she being so damn nosey?_

"My aunt Ti, but she disappeared after the one time I saw her." I replied bitterly. "My parents said it was because of me. I believed them."

"Do you need help finding her again?" The Queen offered. "I think we can do that."

"Why would you help me?" I asked skeptically. Why would she help someone who she only knows as _'Person that tried to kill my niece'._

"Because you deserve to hear her side of the story and if your parents know anything of the whereabouts of my daughter, she might know more."

"That would explain why they never let her near you again." Xai Bau realized. "They might have been afraid she might let something slip."

"Like what?" I challenged.

"The truth about your past?" Xai Bau said firmly. "Where you're actually from."

"Or where you got the locket." Ghazan added, which made the Queen look at me, alarmed.

"What locket?" She asked.

"This one." I said as I got the thing from beneath my dress to show it it her. "My parents had it for some reason. Tonraq said it was your daughter's." I said as I handed it to her. The queen gasped as tears formed in her eyes. _"This was hers."_

"Then they have had the princess." Xai Bau spoke up.

"They're probably the ones that fed her to the Polar Bears Dogs." P'li brought up. "Probably keeping the locket as a trophy."

"Maybe she didn't actually die." Ilene brought up as she, Dizanna and Selvia walked into the room. "Maybe the medallion was kept as a ruse to threaten whoever was behind taking the princess that they had proof of who she really was. You know; blackmail."

"We should interrogate them about that." Tonraq offered.

"We'll check in the nursery for a photo of the princes in the meantime." Zaheer said as he looked at me with a small smile. "Maybe a closer look could help us identify her."

"I'll see if I can reach out to find this Aunt Ti you spoke of. Maybe she can help us find out what happened as well." The Queen smiled.

"Ammi?" Tonraq asked incredulously. "You really seem invested in this."

"You should be as well." Queen Ammi replied with a smile on her face. "She is your family as well. Even if you haven't seen her for thirty-six years."

 _Thirty-six years?_ _ **That's my age**_

I thought before shaking my head.

 _Has to be a coïncidence_

 _But she kept asking you questions about your background and was shocked when you revealed you held on the princess' locket_

A voice in my head said as Tonraq led us to the nursery where Queen Ammi unlocked the door.

 _She hadn't expected to see that locket back and was just being polite_

I snapped back at the voices in my head before we all entered the nursery where a strange feeling crept over me; I knew this place.

"Here lived one lucky girl." Ghazan commented as we looked around the nursery. I had to admit he was right. On one side of the room were drawers full of expensive toys that had never been played with while on the other side stood a beautiful changer with next to it a closet filled to the brim with luxurious looking baby dresses.

"We're not here to gawk. Let's get to work." Femke said as she started to look around. I myself walked to the wall and looked at a portrait that was hanging there. It held the same people in the picture. The only difference was that the woman was standing sideways, her arms around her pregnant belly, looking at it with a loving glance while the king stood with his head against hers.

 _That man must be the King_

I thought as I looked at a smaller picture on the drawer that showed the royal pair, this time sitting in the grass with their backs against a tree, the king holding the queen in his lap as they were reading a book.

"What's that?" Ghazan asked as he peeked over my shoulder and looked at the picture as well. "Romantic."

"That must be in the spirit oasis." Zaheer noted as he came to look at the picture as well. "That's the only place on the North Pole where they have grass."

"You're right. It was taken on the day I met him. We fell in love soon after." Queen Ammi said as she smiled at the picture.

"This one must be from when you were pregnant." Femke noted as she pointed at the other picture with a smile on her face.

"Yes. We were both so happy when we got the news." Queen Ammi smiled. "Especially since my husband had an illness that could render him sterile. The doctors had said it would take a miracle to get a single heir, yet we were blessed."

"Lucky." Ghazan commented smirking.

"Yes, but when our daughter was stolen it broke him." The Queen said as she looked down sadly.

 _I can see where this is going_

I thought as I turned away from them instead looked at the crib instead, getting that feeling that this was familiar.

"He died a few months after she was taken. The doctors said it was too much for his already frail body."

"That's horrible." Femke said, sounding upset.

"It must have been hard to lose your daughter and husband so close to each other." Xai Bau said as he looked at the queen sadly.

"It was. I held out hope they would find my daughter, but then they found her bones..." Queen Ammi answered.

"So that hope was crushed as well." Ilena said.

"That's awful." Dizanna added with a sad look while Selvia just nodded.

"Nobody should have to suffer a double tragedy like that." Xai Bau said with a nod while Femke held on to Zaheer with tears in her eyes.

 _Always been the sensitive one_

Went through me as I opened one of the drawers to look inside, seeing a lot of rompers and sleeveless dresses. So much stuff. This made looking for a simple photograph like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 _Far too many clothes for one baby_

I thought annoyed as I closed the drawer again and opened the next one. As I did so my eye fell on a pink rattle, lying half under the dresser.

 _Must have dropped it there before she was taken_

I thought as I picked it up and studied it closely, getting a flash of nostalgia. _Did I hold this thing before?_

I placed it on the drawer and went on looking for a picture of the princess while listening to the others talking and searching as well.

 _Just shut up and do your job_

I thought just before my eyes fell on a photo album in one of the boxes in the corner of the room.

There we go

I smirked as I made ice fingers to pick up the book without soaking it, showing it to the others.

"Good going, Ming." Ghazan said.

I slowly opened the book and on the first page there was a picture of a much younger version of myself. It had to be because I looked like that in my pictures back home.

"She looks adorable." Femke smiled.

"And exactly like a younger Ming Hua." Xai Bau added, looking from the picture to me, which made me annoyed.

"That's impossible" I snapped as I looked to the side.

"You two have the same birth date. You look very much alike..." Xai Bau started. "This can't be a coïncidence."

"Stranger things have happened." Tarrlok added.

"That doesn't make it true." I said as I looked at the picture sternly.

"Doesn't make it false, either." Femke said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"So?" I asked as I looked up at her.

"You have a choice. To either get to the bottom of this and find out who you were before those two took you…" Femke said as she looked me straight in the eyes. "Ore stop now and keep wondering about this for the rest of your life."

 _Like you'll stop about it if I say_ _ **'no'**_

I thought bitterly as I rolled my eyes at her.

"I know it must be a scary to try and find out your past after all you've been put through." Xai Bau said, which made me huff. "But it could mean you would find out who your real parents are."

"What good will that do?" I challenged.

"You can find a family that truly loves you." Xai Bau said, at which everybody else nodded. It just made me sigh, knowing they weren't going to let this go.

 _Might as well give them their way to make them stop_

I thought as I looked at the picture again, before I made up my mind. I was going to try and find out who I was. Even if I wasn't the Princess, I would at least find out whether or not I indeed was a true Hua.

"Fine, let's see where this mess will get us." I sighed.

"Another mystery to solve." Ghazan smirked while I looked up, noting the Queen had sat down in the rocking chair near the window, looking out sadly.

 _This must be hard for her, having to relive those things_

I thought as i listened to my friends chatting in the background.

 _Can't blame her. It must have been hard to lose her daughter_

I thought as I gathered the courage to walk up to her.

"Care to join in? It's _**your**_ daughter we're searching for." I asked as cold as possible, which made her look up sadly, eyes red from crying.

"I can't" she said sadly. "I would be so happy if it were possible for my daughter to return, but I fear the other possibility."

"Why?" I asked as I sat down near her on the floor, not wanting to come over as intimidating.

"What if we find her and she doesn't accept me? What if she thinks I abandoned her?" The Queen asked. "What if she turns out to be truly gone?"

"If she thinks you abandoned her we have clear proof that you didn't." I said calmly. "And if she turns out to be dead after all... well, then you at least know for sure."

"And what if I turn out to be **_your_** mother?" She asked now with a uncertain voice. "If we find proof you indeed **_are_** my girl. Would you accept me?"

"Well, there's the whole _having tried to kill your niece_ thing." I started, looking down a little unsure. "But if you're willing to look past that, then sure."

"I understand that it must be hard for you to help me after all you have been through." The Queen smiled as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "But know you were ** _always_** wanted if your indeed her. I never intended any of this to happen."

"I know. Tonraq said so." I said as i looked to the side before looking up as she had gotten up from her chair and sat down on the floor next to me, which caught me by surprise.

"You do resemble her a lot." The Queen smiled as she looked me in the eyes. "How old are you?"

"Thirty-six. Same age as she would have been." I said, which made the Queen gasp.

"And your birthday?" She asked.

"I dunno. We never celebrated it." I said, looking away. "There was nothing to celebrate."

"But do you know the date?" The Queen inquired as she looked at me sternly.

"Fifth day of the second moon cycle." I said after thinking about this for a moment, remembering vaguely that was my official date of birth, which made the Queen gasp even harder as everybody turned and looked at the two of us.

"What's wrong?" Tziza asked as he walked to the Queen with a shocked look.

"So many things alike..." The Queen said as she looked at our second in command sadly.

"Cooïncidence?" Ghazan asked, shrugging.

"Or not." Femke stated calmly, which made me glare at her. _Could she knock it off or at least be more direct?_

"Who knows?" A new voice said from the doorway. "Maybe I can help shed some light on the mystery." The voice said as I looked up and gasped.

In the doorway stood someone I hadn't seen since I was merely five years old.

 _"Aunt Ti."_ i whispered as I felt tears in the corner of my eyes.

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And with that i end another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading and many thanks to paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as beta reader and advisor on the story.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	28. chapter 28: princes minghua part 1

Chapter 28: Princess MingHua part 1: search for the truth

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _"Aunt Ti."_ Ming Hua gasped as she looked at the woman in the doorway with widened eyes, unable to believe the woman she had last seen when she had been a mere five years old was right there.

"Hello, Ming. It's good to see you again." The much older woman smiled as she walked to her with her arms spread wide, at which Ming ran into them.

"Aw. You can care." Ghazan commented with a smirk.

 _ **"Shut it."**_ Ming snapped before she turned to her aunt.

"Why did you never call? Or write?" Ming asked firmly. "I thought you _**hated**_ me."

"How could I hate that sweet little five-year old I met that day?" Aunt Ti asked smiling as she pulled a hair from her niece's face. "I was unable to call. Your parents told me if I would, they wouldn't be responsible for the consequences."

"Threatening their own family? _**Really?**_ " Femke said as she looked at Ming's aunt sadly.

"It happens." Xai Bau noted as he looked at Zaheer, who nodded in reply.

"Family doesn't always mean you love each other." Ilene commented as she looked to the side sadly, knowing all too well.

"Too bad. If they had, Ming could have been a really good medical worker somewhere by now." Aunt Ti said with a smile on her face. "She was a very bright and lively girl back then."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Ming?" Ghazan asked.

 _ **"Shut it."**_ Ming snapped.

"People change." Zaheer commented, at which his girlfriend nodded.

"Most of you did so quite recently." Femke added with a smile.

"That was taken out of her I'm afraid." Aunt Ti said as she looked at her niece sadly. "If they kept up treating you the way they did by the time I arrived."

"I ran away from home for a while because of it." Ming said. "A family of polar bear dogs found me and took me in for a while. When my parents found me they first acted all sweet around me and pretended to be happy I was back." Ming kept talking. "Yet the mask fell off soon enough and the abuse continued until my friends found me."

"And the rest is history." Ghazan concluded with a smirk.

"How did you get here this fast?" Ming asked.

"I live close to the castle." Aunt Ti smiled. "I have job here a local healer. As soon as I got the message I came here. I'm so happy to see you're still alive and well, despite everything you must have been through."

"I'm also glad to see you again. Too bad i didn't know you were here. I could have ran off if I had known" Ming smiled.

"You probably would have been sent back sooner and I would have gotten into trouble as well." Aunt Ti said as she stroked Ming over her cheek. "I'm just glad you managed to get away on your own and found friends who like you the way you are."

"A violent anarchist who nearly killed our world's protector." Tonraq added firmly, which made Aunt Ti look at her niece sternly.

 _ **"Excuse me?"**_ She asked firmly.

"But then we got defeated as Femke convinced us otherwise."

Ming explained curtly, not wanting to give out all the details. It was behind them, anyway.

"Do you have _**any**_ idea what you could have **_done_** to the world?" Aunt Ti asked with a shocked look.

"We know by now." Ming commented as she rolled her eyes.

"I sure hope so." Aunt Ti told her niece.

"Would you mind stop talking to me like I'm five years old?" Ming replied.

"I know you must have fell like your parents pushed you on that path but I just want make sure you understand you caused a lot of hurt." Aunt Ti said as she looked at her niece sadly.

"I know." Ming said as she looked to the side, not wanting to show how much it affected her that there had been innocent people dying because of them.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand." Aunt Ti smiled as she placed a hand on her niece's shoulder, seeing she had understood that what the Red Lotus had wanted was wrong. "I know my sister and brother-in-law very well. They would do anything for money."

"So the princess is dead?" Femke asked, making Queen Ammi look down sadly.

"Probably not. I don't know if they would go as far as to kill a child." Aunt Ti replied as she looked calmly at her niece.

 _"Nobody in their right mind would."_ Ilene whispered to Dizanna and Selvia, who both nodded in reply.

"How big is the chance Ming ** _is_** the princess?" Tziza asked as she looked at Ming's aunt sternly.

"Bigger than you think." Aunt Ti replied as she looked at Ming smiling "You see, I came to visit you before, that one time. Back when you were just a few days old." Aunt Ti started to recall.

 _A younger Ti immediately turned around when she heard the familiar voice of her sister and her husband draw closer. She heard them say 'this raid was a success, the master can be proud' so she expected them to have a sack of gold or something like that with them but she hadn't expected them to look at her shocked as they cuddled a newborn baby close._

 _ **"Ti! What pleasant surprise!"**_ _Her sister Minna Hua smiled as she walked over to hug her after giving the baby to her husband, who looked at the little dear smiling. She could feel it was all fake._

 _"I was close by so I thought I'd drop in to see how my sister is doing. I didn't know you were pregnant." She smiled as she looked at the little black haired baby in the arms of her father, noticing she was missing her arms._

 _"I was. I just had no time to write about it. We were busy." Her sister quickly said but just as she wanted to make a comment about it, the baby started to cry loudly._

 _"Yes, I'm going to make you a bottle. Calm down." Her sister told the baby as she walked to the fridge and got some things out to make a bottle, looking very tired and annoyed._

 _"Are you sure you're up to this?" Ti wanted to know as she looked at the child suspiciously._

 _"Don't worry. Just… not used to a kid, that's all." Her sister answered with a sweet voice as she started to get the milk warmed up._

 _"Let me handle this. I've learned how to deal with children at work."_

 _Ti smiles as she held out her arms for the little one and took the bottle. After a suspicious silence the baby was handed to her as she hungrily started drinking from the bottle._

 _"She's so pretty, what's her name?" Ti asked as she smiled down at her now calm niece._

 _"Ming." Minna Hua said after she and her husband shared a nod._

 _"Hello Ming, welcome in the family. I'm aunt Ti." Ti smiled at the beautiful little girl, noting her dress was made from a fine, expensive fabric. Only the richest families in the Northern Water tribe could afford to buy something like this._

 _'_ _They could easily have stolen those for her, stop being so suspicious.'_

 _Ti firmly told herself. The news of the stolen princes hadn't reached her yet. And by the time it had, everyone thought the child was dead._

"Can you describe the clothes she wore?" Tonraq asked after Ti was done telling.

"Of course. She wore a pink sleeveless dress with darker ruffles around the places her arms should be and she was swaddled in a dark blue pelt." Aunt Ti started to describe the clothes, which made the eyes of the Queen turn wide, before they started to fill with tears.

"Those were _**her**_ clothes." The Queen said as she looked up at Aunt Ti.

"Then my suspicion is right." Aunt Ti said as she turned to look at Ming.

 _ **Ming Hua's POV**_

Then my suspicion was right." Aunt Ti said as she turned to look at me. I had to think twice before I realized what she meant. _If Aunt Ti had seen me wear the clothes of the princes then… No… no… that_ _ **couldn't**_ _be. That_ _ **had**_ _to be a mistake. I_ _ **wasn't**_ _the princess. That's_ _ **impossible.**_

"That makes _**no damn sense.**_ If I'm the princes then why didn't they just _**kill**_ me?" I asked with a stern voice. "Why hold on to a child that _**isn't**_ their own?"

"I don't know. All I can is that they wanted to form you into a criminal like them at first." My aunt said as she walked towards me and looked me in the eyes sadly. "When that failed, they became abusive."

"I couldn't help that I was a slow learner at first." I huffed as I looked to the side sadly, trying to hide how much it affected me that they thought of me as weak.

"I know, but you became strong in the end." Aunt Ti smiled. "They failed to see that only focusing on what they perceive as signs of strength."

"Strength comes in many forms." zaheer added.

"That is over now. Maybe now ming can find out the truth about herself" Aunt Ti started but stopped when two people burst in and I was scooped up roughly and carried away.

 _ **What the hell?!**_

I thought as i heard the others shout my name behind me.

 _Do they really think this is going to work?_

I thought as I struggled, kicking my legs their back as hard as I could.

 _ **"Hold still!"**_ Tang Hua's voice called, which made me flinch and do as told. Even after all this time and all the things we have been through that voice still got to me.

 _ **"**_ _ **Were taking her**_ _ **home**_ _ **and if you follow us we'll**_ _ **kill**_ _ **her!"**_ Tang Hua's voice called as Minna Hua smirked and pointed a dagger at my neck.

"Minna, please. Let her go. She has done nothing to deserve this." Aunt Ti begged as I lifted my head seeing she had walked towards us.

"She has. And so have _**you**_ by sticking your nose in places it _ **doesn't**_ belong." Tang snapped as he looked at his sister in law firmly. "Now hand me the locket and let us go."

 _ **"Never!**_ That's my niece. I care for her." Aunt Ti snapped as she took another step towards us. "If you did the same you would tell her the truth about her past."

"We _**did,**_ she just _**refuses**_ to accept she is _**not**_ a princess." Tang Hua snapped angrily at his sister in law, who sighted.

 _"How did I get stuck with a bonehead as a brother in law."_ She groaned.

"Guess that Ming picked up some things from you." Ghazan commented with a smirk.

"Can we not get distracted?" Aunt Ti said as she looked at him sternly before turning her eyes back to her family. "I know you stole her from the Royal Palace."

 _"How did you…?"_ Tang Hua stammered as he backed away, turning pale.

"I remember them. Just like I remember you put my niece through Hell. _**Why?**_ Just because you _**thought**_ her _**handicap**_ made her _**unable**_ to get _**strong?"**_ Aunt Ti snapped, which made me look up at her, thanking her for her kindness in silence.

 _ **"Yeah! Ming a great waterbender!"**_ Femke said as she looked at me with a smile.

"Can we stop with the saccharine nonsense? Somehow you always manage to do that." I said.

"We're glad she is our friend and ally. Without her things had been rather boring at times." P'li smiled now.

"She has the best wit off all of us." Ghazan added.

"In any case." Tonraq growled as he got to the front now. "I want to know now if this woman… " He said pointing at me. "Is not my niece then **_where is she? What have you done to her?"_**

"She's _**dead.**_ " Tang Hua said as he walked towards him with a devious smirk on his face. "We _**murdered**_ her and fed her pitiful remains to a bunch of Polar Bear Dogs. Serves her right for meddling with our Lord's plans."

 _ **"No!"**_ Queen Ammi gasped as she clapped her hands in front of her mouth with tears in her eyes.

 _ **"You monsters!"**_ Femke screamed, as a horrified Zaheer had to hold her back from attacking them, her face more wolf than human.

"You were responsible for the death of so many people. What's so horrible about _**one**_ baby?" Tang Hua said.

"We at least showed _**remorse**_ for what we did. Your not even **sorry** for murdering an ** _innocent_** girl?" Femke asked as she looked at them with gleaming red eyes. "Who just happened to be born at the _**wrong**_ moment at the _**wrong**_ place for your precious master's plans."

"What are those plans, anyway?" Ghazan asked.

"We're not telling. You're not owned an explanation." Tang Hua said as he looked me dead in the eyes and for a split second I remembered a yell… A woman shouting ' _ **My baby**_!'

 _This trick on my mind needs to stop_

I thought as I kept looking at my father. But what if he was lying? What if he was making this all up to cover something up?

 _This is getting ridiculous_

I thought as I remembered the locket I found and was hit with a strange feeling but before I could change my mind I threw it at the Queen, who caught it and looked at it, shocked.

 _ **"No!"**_ Tang Hua called as he looked at it with shock while the Queen held it out so that everyone could clearly see it.

"This was _ **my**_ daughter's. And was found in _ **your**_ house." The queen said bravely as she looked my father straight in the eyes. "If you _ **murdered**_ her, why did you _**keep**_ it?"

"To give it to _**our**_ daughter once we had a reason to be _ **proud**_ of her." My father snapped as he looked at me firmly.

"He's lying, Your Highness. I can sense it." Noatak said as he got next to her and reached out his hand. The mere threat was enough, because both of my parents, recognizing his Amon mask, backed away.

"They're terrible at it." Zaheer commented. "Just tell us the truth. Unalaq is dead. If you plead guilty you'll only get a light sentence."

 _"Not if I can help it."_ Tonraq growled.

"We're _ **not**_ lying and if you excuse us, we're taking ** _our_** daughter home now." Tang Hua said after which he turned around and started to head off. I firmly started to kick around, not wanting to go with them and live out the rest of my life as their unwanted, unloved prisoner. I wanted to be free. Free to be myself and live around people that actually love me.

 _ **"Hold still."**_ Tang told me as I fell a firm slap on my cheek, which got me groaning while Aunt Ti ran to me.

 _ **"Ming!"**_ She called as she tried to reach for me. "Let her go, _ **please!"**_

"No. Ming is _ **our**_ child." Tang said as he looked at my aunt firmly. "This is all **_your_** fault. She wouldn't be doubting whether or not she was who she was if _**you**_ hadn't filled her head with nonsense when she was five years old."

 _ **"That poor child was abused and starved."**_ Ti called as she looked at me sadly. "I gave her a day to remember and told her what really happened."

"It _**wasn't**_ true." Minna interjected. "She is **_not_** a princess."

"She's lying." Noatak said firmly. "I can sense it."

 _ **"Let Ming go!"**_ Femke called as she used waterbending to make a wall of ice that covered their one exit before she used a water whip to smack my father against his hand, causing him to be distracted as I got away.

"Thanks." I smirked as I bended my water arms in place and whipped my father against the wall.

"They're all yours." Femke called as she dodged and flipped away. I used that to bend the water she had used to blocked the door at my mother, trapping her against the wall, which left me to face of against my father.

"You're going to _ **die**_ this time." My father told me as he took his dagger and walked towards me but I was faster and managed to dodge him. I caught a blow aimed at the Queen, who looked at me with widened eyes as Femke tried to waterbend at my father, who was much faster then she was.

 _I need to take him down. He can't destroy any evidence that might be here_

I thought as I dodged and struck wherever I could. Until saw to my shock that my mother had managed to escape and struck Femke against the wall from behind.

 _ **"Femke!"**_ Zaheer called as he ran to her with a worried look on his face, leaving the Queen completely unguarded. My father took this opportunity as he threw a dagger of ice at her.

 _ **"No!" I**_ called as I leaped in front of it, fearing that with the Queen, the truth about my past would die. I was not about to let that happen.

 _ **"MING!"**_ I heard everybody exclaim around me as the dagger hit me and everything went black.

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Cliffhanger! Next time we'll see if Ming Hua will survive the blow or not so you better keep reading.

That was all for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this and thank you paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as a beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	29. Chapter 29: princes minghua part 2

Chapter 29: princes minghua part 2: the truth at last.

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _ **"MING!"**_ Everybody gasped as she fell the ground.

"Foolish. Trying to protect a Queen she didn't even believe in." Tang Hua mocked as both Queen Ammi and Aunt Ti walked over to Ming and placed a hand on her back, noting that she was still breathing.

"Poor woman. That must have taken a toll on her." The Queen said as she took Ming in her arms, noting she was as light as a feather. So skinny her cheekbones were visibly and dirty for waterbender standards.

"She must have been through a lot and if she is my daughter, that's all my fault. If i had been able to protect her, none of this had happened." The Queen said as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Don't despair Your Majesty. Ming is a tough one. She'll come through." Aunt Ti smiled as she placed a hand on the shoulder of the Queen, looking at Ming sadly.

"If anyone can pull through its our Ming." Ghazan said while fending off Minna Hua.

"She's been through so much and it's my fault. If I had been able to protect her… " The Queen said with tears in her eyes. "None of this would have ever happened."

"The Hua clan strong. A non combatant wouldn't have been able to stand up against them." Aunt Ti assured her. "You would only have gotten hurt if you tried and then Ming would have nobody to return to."

"You'll be able to help her now that she found her way home." Femke commented as she and her friends squared off against Tang and Minna Hua.

 _ **"Ming! Wake up!"**_ Ghazan called as he was flung against a wall. _**"We could really use you right about now."**_

"It would be great if she awoke. We could really use her help right about now." Zaheer smiled as he blew away Tang Hua.

"We'll see what we can do." Queen Ammi smiled as Aunt Ti bent over Ming and rubbed her over her cheek.

"Ming?" Aunt Ti asked as she placed a hand on the chest of her niece, feeling she was barely breathing.

 _"Ming?"_ Queen Ammi whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek and hit Ming Hua on her chest, which made a brilliant light glow all around her, causing everybody to look up in shock and when the light cleared Ming stood there, wearing a long sleeveless water blue dress and brilliant glowing light blue wings on her back.

 _ **"Enchantix!"**_ Femke cheered as she looked at Zaheer.

"Just like with the rest of us." Zaheer said

.

"This proves she's related to the Queen." Ghazan said.

"Not really. It reacts to anyone from this planet." Femke said as she turned to Ming, who looked at her new outfit with a displeased look.

"Are short skirts a thing from where you're from, Femke?" Ming asked as she looked down at it. "I have to say, not a bad look."

"And it has its roots in rebelling against the established order, so that's a bonus!" Femke laughed as she and the others transformed as well.

"I can get into it." Ming said as she shot a wave of ice at her mother, dodging with ease as some were launched back at her.

 _ **"Thunderstrike!**_ " Femke called, making lightning strike around the small nursery, hitting Tang Hua in the chest.

 _ **"She's a fairy! How can that be?"**_ Minna Hua called as she ran over to her husband and helped him back on his feet.

 _ **"She must have learned it from the others."**_ Tang Hua growled as he looked up with a glare while Aunt Ti helped Queen Ammi stand back up. Both women smiled when they saw Ming in her fairy form.

"She's beautiful." Queen Amm smiled as she looked up at Ming.

"She sure is. Fairies; who knew." Aunt Ti smiled as she watched her niece fight alongside her friends, who were a lot stronger now and managed to get the two bandits out of the nursery and into a more open space.

"I once read in a book that three thousand years ago, eight spirit-like humans guarded the peace alongside the Avatar. I thought it was only a myth." Queen Ammi commented as she looked at the battle.

"Me too." Aunt Ti said as she smiled. "She is magic alright. A real fairy."

 _ **"Femke! On your left!"**_ Ming Hua called as she used a wave of water to wash her mother away from her.

 _ **"Thanks!**_ " Femke called as she used a wave of water to fling Tang Hua to the other side of the hallway, preventing him from attacking her in the back.

 _ **"Anytime!"**_ Ming smirked as Femke returned the favor, washing away Minna Hua who had wanted to strike Ming in the back.

"Now that's what I call a Royal Flush!" Femke smirked as she raised her arms in a cheerful way.

"Right in the honor." P'li smiled, as the girls shared a high five.

"Sneak attack, just how the Huas like it." Ming said as she dusted herself off.

"A little below the belt for my tastes." Femke commented as she and Ilene used a spell to tie the two criminals down while still mostly frozen.

"They're criminals, what did you expect?" Ming answered dryly as Ilena got a small vial from her bag, at which Femke gasped in shock.

"How did you come by truth serum?" She asked.

"Bought it in magix a while ago, right before we went to search for you." Ilene said as she forced open Tang Hua's mouth and put in some of the potion after which she forced him to swallow it. "Thought it might come in handy at some point."

"Good thinking." Femke smiled as Ming got in front of them and made her mother swallow the truth potion as well.

"Now we're _**finally**_ going to get the _ **truth."**_ Ming said as she kneeled down in front of her parents. "Tell me; Am I _**your**_ daughter?"

"No. You're not born our daughter." Tang Hua said with a solemn voice, his eyes widening after he did so.

'Who was she born to?" Femke wanted to know, her eyes glowing yellow as she asked this, making Tang Hua back away from her in fear.

"She was born to Queen Ammi. She is the princess." Minna told now, which made Ming look up at the Queen, shocked, while the Queen had tears in her eyes.

 _"My daughter."_ She whispered as she looked at Ming with tears in her eyes, while Ming just looked at the people she had always thought off as her parents with shock.

"why did you lie about it?' Zaheer asked. "Who you answer to is dead."

"We were _**paid**_ to keep silent. We're honorable enough to _ **keep**_ that promise." Tang Hua growled.

"So there _**IS**_ honor among thieves. Zuko had it wrong." Femke joked.

"You know Firelord Zuko?" Tang Hua asked.

"We go way back." Femke answered.

"Anyway, is that why you _**lied**_? Because of some _**stupid arrogant**_ dead guy that wanted to _ **ruin**_ the world." Ming Hua said as she looked her once father straight in the eyes. "Do you know what you almost _**did**_? Did you ever consider what you put _**ME**_ through?"

" _ **No**_. We did what we were _**paid**_ to do, that was all that matters." Tang Hua answered, still under the influence of the truth serum. "And you're nothing to us but a nuisance."

 _ **"Maybe if you'd raise me properly!"**_ Ming Hua snapped back at the man before her with a death glare in her eyes.

 _ **"You were**_ _ **useless**_ _ **to us, even more when you came back to us!"**_ Tang Hua rages as he got up so the two of them were at eye level, which made Ming Hua back away in fear, even when he was bound and unable to hurt her he still scared her. _**"Look at you! No arms. Fake legs! We would have been better off**_ _ **murdering**_ _ **you back when we stole you! You're a total**_ _ **failure**_ _ **!"**_

"A failure that nearly destroyed the world." Ghazan smirked.

"And knows how to kick ass." Femke added, which made Ming Hua smile at her.

"She's amazing at fixing my braid." P'li added, smiling.

"And she's a great cook." Ghazan finished.

"That idiot Unalaq almost freed Vaatu, became a dark avatar and brought three thousand years of darkness." Ming said sternly as she looked up with a dark look on both of her once parents.

"No offense." Ghazan added as he looked at Tonraq.

"None taken." Tonraq answered.

"He always was trouble." Queen Ammi lamented. "the times he got in trouble with father were countless."

"He always received proper punishment. " Tonraq said, recalling every time Unalaq must have been punished by their father for things he did while he was a young boy.

"Sounds familiar." Ghazan smirked. "He had the same attitude within the Red Lotus. And he got in trouble for it a lot there as well."

"I punished him a lot as well." Xai Bau said.

"Sounds like my uncle was a real troublemaker." Korra smirked as she, Asami, Bolin and Mako came in with some White Lotus guards as well as Tenzin, Raikou, Prince Wu, Eska and Desna.

"Seems like he was my uncle as well." Ming Hua said as she shuddered. "The thought alone makes me retch."

"Wait, you two are _**related?**_ " Bolin gasped.

"Seems like it." Ming Hua replied calmly.

"You two look nothing alike." Bolin noted.

"Neither does she look like Eska and Desna." Ming Hua replied.

"They might not look anything alike but with Ming Hua this due to the fact that she spent her life in hell." Queen Ammi smiled as she walked over to her daughter with tears blinking in her eyes.

"Not match of a hugger due to that." Ming said as she backed off.

"I know." She smiled as she let her fingers slide against her daughter's cheekbones, before she turned to the White Lotus guards. "Throw these two pieces of _**vermin**_ in a dark cell and keep them under _**constant**_ watch until further notice." The Queen said with a deadly calm voice.

"Do they get a fair trial?" Tenzin wanted to know.

"Of course they will." Queen Ammi smiled. "Even if they stole my daughter away from me, I'm not a tyrant. They deserve a fair trial."

As they spoke, Aunt Ti picked up the locket from were it had fallen and carefully gave it to Ming Hua and her mother.

"I think this belongs to you." Aunt Ti smiled as she handed Ming the locket. "Princess."

"Guess it was mine after all. It's sort of hard to believe after all we have been through." Ming smiled as she took the locket in her hand and held it a safe distance from her face to get a better look at it.

"You're not the first princess on the team." Xai Bau commented with a smirk on his face as he nodded to Femke standing next to Zaheer.

"She is?" Korra asked, before holding up her hand. "Who am I kidding. Of course she is."

"I used to be, but I gave up on it." Femke answered.

"Why?" Prince Wu wanted to know.

"I wanted to marry for love. My aunt and uncle who are in charge of Scheffield since my parents are gone wanted an arranged marriage for me." Femke shrugged. "So I gave them the choice; either they let me marry for love or they could pretend I was dead and have of my brothers in an arranged marriage and let them take over Scheffield."

"Harsh." Bolin said.

"I got used to it." Femke shrugged.

"You don't regret leaving your family?" Tenzin asked carefully.

"No. I made my choice and I stick to it. Nobody should be forced to marry someone they don't love. " Femke replied as she crossed her arms.

"Just like how Zaheer ran away from home to avoid having to marry someone from the Lee family against his will." Ghazan added.

"Allerys Lee? "Tarrlok asked. "My college friend?"

"Sounds like it." Ghazan smirked. "She said _'hi'_."

"That's what you wanted to say before. You love her, don't you?" Noatak asked as he looked at his brother.

"We kind of had a connection." Tarrlok admitted with a blush on his face. "But she was engaged and I was a bloodbender. We figured it was for the best we kept it at a teenage crush and nothing more."

"She was still into you." Zaheer said.

"Good to hear." Tarrlok smiled before looking up shocked when he realized something. "What are her parents like? You think they will approve of me?"

"Tarrlok." Femke smiled as she and Zaheer shared a hug. "If she really still loves you, it doesn't matter whether or not her parents approve of you and her being together."

"True love conquers all. That's one thing I've learned." Zaheer smiled as he looked at Femke, who nodded in agreement.

"Back to the point; we found out who I am. _**Now what?**_ " Ming Hua asked.

"I'll set up some rooms so you can live and train here." Queen Ammi smiled as she placed a hand on her daughters shoulder. "I want spend some time with my daughter now she's that finally home."

 _ **Ming hua's POV**_

"Yeah. We have to keep up training since a force of pure evil is about to come and destroy us all." I replied. After I did so, my mother guided me away from the group.

 _How the mighty Red Lotus has fallen. We're just like the White Lotus once more. keeping monarchs in the saddle_

I thought as my mother walked me through a long hallway, stopping in front of a portrait of her, me and her husband. My father. My real father was sitting on a chair and looked really frail, yet his eyes were beaming as he looked at me, lying there in his lap, beaming at both of my parents above me.

"Made on the day you were born." My mother said as she placed a arm around my shoulder as she looked at it with a sad smile. "Despite the fact that you were born without arms he was so happy with your birth. And had you been able to stay, we would have given you all the love and kindness we could."

 _"They were happy to have me. That just feels weird compared to my adoptive parents' constant reminders that I was lucky they kept me alive_

I thought as I looked at the portraits next to ours. One was of a much younger Unalaq meditating while surrounded by spirits. The other was of someone unfamiliar to me, standing tall as he held up his weapon up in a proud way.

"Your grandfather, Chief Uruk." My mother smiled as she followed my gaze. "My father."

"He looks like Chief Sokka." I commented as I looked at him.

"They're not related." Queen Ammi smiled as she hugged me close. "How do you know what Chief Sokka looks like?"

"We met him when we tried to kidnap the Avatar. My niece?" I barely got that last part out of my mouth. It was still hard to believe that I was related to Korra, Eska, Desna and Unalaq.

 _It does explain why he kept looking at you strangely when you first met him_

A voice in my head said.

 _He must have realized you escaped your parents custody and joined the Red Lotus, fair enough._

I went over more portraits, shivering when I came to the portrait of the current rulers of the Northern Water tribe; Eska and Desna. They looked even scarier on the portrait then in real life.

"Your niece and nephew look quite intimidating, don't they?" My mother smiled as she looked at the portrait as well.

"They always have been like that. We have been in the palace before when we were about to go get Korra. We saw them then as well." I admitted smiling. "You might have heard about the broken expensive vase."

"Yes. Father scolded Unalaq for that." My mother smiled as she recalled it, which made me snicker a little.

"That was actually P'li's fault. She bumped it over my accident." I admitted with a sheepish smile on my face. "Unalaq took the blame because he couldn't tell his father he had us in the palace."

"Really now. " Ammi smiled. "Your friend must have fell rather guilty about that." My mother noted as she led me to another room.

"Not too much." I replied.

Queen Ammi simply smiled as she opened the door to a big bedroom at which. Was this my room? It was amazing! The walls were light blue with a snowscape on the wall behind my bed. All five of us would fit in said bed at once. I bounced a little on the beth, feathers were in good condition. This bed was never used before.

"Do you like your room?" My mother asked smiling as she sat down with me. "I had the staff keep this room at the ready. In case you would come back home at some point."

"I don't have to share it with the others, right?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, causing my mother to giggle.

"They get their own rooms unless they want a shared room." My mother answered.

"There's place for more beds like this?" I asked somewhat incredulous.

"Of course, all beds in the palace are like this." My mother smiled as she stroked me over my knee before she looked down with a pondering look. _"Metal?"_

"They've been like that for a while now." I commented while looking at my legs.

"What happened?" My mother asked with a sad look, worried for me. This was odd. My fake parents never cared about me. They never even bothered to ask why my legs were amputated. This was odd and new and yet the comfort of it made me feel loved. For the first time in my life apart from that brief interaction with Aunt Ti.

 _Too bad I'm not related to her. She was alright_

I thought, before I turned to my mother, who wanted to know why I had no legs anymore.

"I was fighting a firebender when i was still an anarchist. He got the better of me. But I refused to give up." I answered, which made my mother look at me with widened eyes. "I lured him into the catacombs beneath our hideout were there was a lot of water for me to bend."

"That sounds like a smart idea." The Queen smiled.

"I figured that was the end for him but he could bend lightning." I said while looking down, seeing from the corner of my eye her eyes widened in shock at the mention of this. "He electrocuted me. They could save me but my legs were too damaged. They had to amputate them to save the rest of my body."

"I'm glad they managed to save you." Queen Ammi smiled as she hugged me close. She really loved hugging. So unlike me.

"I guess." I smirked.

"You have metal legs now?" My mother asked.

"Thanks to Femke. It was her idea to get these limbs." I replied smiling.

"You care for all off them deeply do?" Queen Ammi asked with a smile.

"They're a good bunch." I smiled as I heard running in the hallway.

 _Speak of the devil_

I thought as I listened for their voices. I expected to hear Femke's cries of laughter soon afterwards but that didn't happen. What followed was femke calling my name, sounding scared.

 _ **"I'm in my room!"**_ I called as I got up and walked to the door after which the door flew open and Femke appeared as well as P'li, both with a haggard look on their faces.

 _ **"It's Zaheer! He fainted out of nowhere!**_ " Femke called, pale with terror.

"He spit up up blood it looks serious" P'li added, looking just as pale as her best friend.

 _Now what?_

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And with that I end a rather short chapter. Sorry for that but I wanted to give Ming some time to bond with her mother.

 _ **A/N:**_

Since we had already established everything considering Ming Hua's true identity was classified information I figured the only way to make them spill the beans about Ming Hua's past was with a truth potion and if Femke had that all along that would raise the question why she didn't use it before. That's why I decided it was for he best Ilene, a character that was introduced in this story and lived in Magix before that, to have the potion.

Because Tang and Minna Hua were very good thieves I figured they would be very capable fighters as well and would be able to keep up with the five Red Lotus members.

Okay, that was all for now! Thanks for reading! And don't forget to thank paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as a Beta reader and advisor

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	30. Chapter 30: zaheer's mysterious illness

Chapter 30: Zaheer's Mysterious Illness

 _ **Normal POV**_

Within a matter of minutes every member of the former Red Lotus stood in Zaheer and Femke's bedroom, looking at Zaheer, who was still unconscious while Ming Hua's Aunt Ti sat next to him and did her best to try and bring their friend and leader back.

"Will he be okay?" P'li asked after a while.

"I don't know. I can't seem to find the source of his illness." Aunt Ti said as she looked up at P'li. "Whether or not he will wake up is something only time will tell."

"That was clear as mud." Ghazan said, which made Ming Hua groan.

"Shut your jaw or I'll break it." Ming Hua snapped.

"Ming Hua." Queen Ammi said with a shocked look.

"She's always like that." Xai Bau smiled before he walked to Femke and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry femke. I'm sure he'll make it."

"How do you know so sure?" Femke asked as she looked up at the Red Lotus founder with tears in her eyes.

"He's strong. He has survived a lot of worse things." Xai Bau said as he sat down with Femke and smiled at Zaheer. "if anyone can survive this it's him."

"He's far too stubborn to die." Ghazan said.

"Do you know what the conditions were of his prison?" Aunt Ti asked.

"It was deep under the ground were he was being chained to the ground so he couldn't fly." Xai Bau said.

"Probably on prisoner's rations." Tziza added.

"Your typical prisoner treatment." Aunt Ti sighed disapprovingly. "No wonder he has gotten so ill."

"Combine that with the fact he refused to take rest in between and you have a recipe for disaster." Femke said as she looked down at Zaheer sadly. "the poor dear is probably exhausted."

"Maybe. We might need the help of the Wood Villages." Aunt Ti said with a stern look. "Just let's hope the legends are true."

"Why?" Femke asked, shocked by the idea of having to ask the Wood Villages for help. She knew they really existed.

"Because they're rumored to be very good at curing strange illnesses we can't yet." Aunt Ti smiled.

"They exist and I have a way to contact them." Femke smiled, after which Aunt Ti nodded and left the room, leaving the others in an awkward silence.

"So, what happened? How did he end up like this?" Bolin asked after a while.

"He spit up blood and fainted." P'li answered. It was clear that she was upset about this all just as much as Femke.

"Yikes." Bolin said.

"Spitting up blood is never a good sign." Ghazan commented as he looked at Femke standing in the hallway with her phone against her ear as she was giving someone on the other side the details of Zaheer's illness.

"Poor girl can't seem to catch a break." P'li said after she had watched Femke talk for a while. "And she has the scars to prove it."

"She chose for that scar. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make." Ming Hua replied.

"She did?" Bolin asked with a surprised look at Ming hua, who looked back at him.

"She did. Femke chose to ruin her arm in order to protect her best friend. I felt how she did so." Toph remarked as she came in along with Lin and Su.

"That is both awesome and painful." Bolin replied as Tenzin and his kids arrived as well as Bumi, Kya and Katara.

"What happened? Femke seems very upset." Katara asked as she looked back at Femke who was still at the phone, visibly crying now.

"Zaheer has fallen ill and the healer didn't know what was wrong with him." P'li replied, upset about this just as much as Femke was. Like any other friend, she cared a lot for Zaheer.

"I'm sure he'll get better. He has endured worse than this." Noatak assured her as he placed a hand on P'li's shoulder, quickly retracting it when he saw how she looked at him.

"Let's see…" Katara said as she sat down with Zaheer and placed a hand on his forehead and chest, before she closed her eyes.

"Mother, why would you help Zaheer? After all he has done to our people? To _ **your**_ children **_and_** grandchildren?" Tenzin asked, watching how Katara did whatever she could to find the source of the illness.

"He's still a human being, Tenzin." Katara said as she looked up at her youngest son. "Sometimes need to look past the crimes of the past."

"In the same way femke did. She managed to get through to Zaheer and all of us thanks to that." Xai bau smiled.

"It was Femke who taught me to look past someone's crimes.' Katara smiled.

"Right. Femke and you were friends eighty five years ago…" Tziza commented.

"Not from the start. Femke and I started out a little rocky." Katara smiled. "She proved to be right in the end. All people have a little spark of good in them. You sometimes just need to be brave to reach for it."

"Mom was pretty amazing." Toph smirked.

 _ **"Mom?"**_ Lin asked as she looked at her mother, shocked.

"Yes, Femke _ **is**_ my biological mother. "Toph said as she turned to her daughter. "She had to give up on me because she wanted to save my life. That is how I ended up a Bei Fong."

"Why didn't you _**tell**_ us?" Lin asked, taken aback by this.

"I thought she wouldn't come back again, so I figured there was no need to mention it." Toph said with a shrug.

"A Wood Villages nurse is on the way as we speak." Femke suddenly called as she walked back into the room with her phone still in her hand, seeming like she had just cried. "We just need to sit tight and… what is going on here? " She asked, seeing everybody looked at her when she entered the room.

"I just told Lin I forgot to mention you were her mother because I thought you abandoned us." Toph said with a shrug.

"About time." Femke smirked while giving Toph a small shove, toppling over when Toph gave her a big punch back.

"You have one big family." Ghazan commented while leaning against the wall. "And that's not even counting the sixteen at once."

"You had _**sixteen**_ kids at **_once_**?" Tarrlok asked with a gasp.

"It was a side effect of me being bitten by a werewolf right before it happened." Femke said with an indifferent shrug.

"Must have been painful." Pema remarked, watching Femke sitting down with Katara next to Zaheer.

"It was. It totally exhausted me but I came through thanks to my adoptive mom." Femke smiled.

"Will we meet them someday?" Ikki asked with a beaming face.

"Who knows. They all live spread across Earth do. I had to give them all up for adoption, thinking I was dying." Femke smiled as she stroke Ikki over her hair. "I know where they all live so maybe we can visit them all someday."

"That would be so cool, not just for us, but also for Toph. They haven't seen her in ages." Jinora smiled.

"All except one, I'm afraid." Femke said as she looked down sadly.

"Dylan didn't make it, did he?" Toph asked, eyes sad. Femke looked at her with tears in her eyes before she shook her head before she buried her face in her knees and burst out in sobbing.

"Who's Dylan?" Bolin asked.

"Her youngest son. He died because of lord Darkar. He used the innocent boy to lure Femke, along with my biological father Daniel, out of hiding before it was time." Toph said with a sad voice. "Killing my father in their first attempt to save Dylan."

"Few months later, right after I had to leave Toph behind in this dimension, Dylan died in my arms." Femke sobbed.

"You didn't stand a chance on your own." Katara soothed her as she wrapped her arms around her friend. "It's not your fault."

"You could have called us." Toph said, which made Femke look up at her with shock.

 _ **"And lose you as well?"**_ Femke asked with a panicking voice. **_"Not in a million years!"_**

"You know how strong I am." Toph defended.

"I know. You will always be the greatest Earthbender." Femke said with a smile. "But this was Lord Darkar. A source of pure evil. He would have been able to overpower and I wouldn't have lived with myself if I had lost you as well."

"And in turn would mean no Bei Fong clan." Ghazan added.

 _"Femke…"_ Lin whispered.

"I never intended you two to get hurt. Not even at Laghima's peak when I thought that was the only way to save my friends. The people that had taught me so match." Femke smiled as she got tears in her eyes. "Even though I now know it was foolish of me to believe that chaos was the answer."

"You were being an idiot." Toph commented. "But in the end everyone learned a lesson about not being one." She smiled, pointing to the other Red Lotus members.

"We all learned and grew from our mistakes." Xai Bau said as he placed a hand on Femke's shoulder and looked at her smiling. "Without you none of that would have happened."

"Femke tends to do that." A new voice called from the door which made everybody look up, only to see someone in a cloak standing in the doorway. "She did it before."

 _"Najira?"_ Femke asked with a gasp as she got up.

"There's no fooling you." Najira smiled as she put down her hood, revealing a young woman with long brown hair in a braid and sparkling purple eyes.

"Not after all we have been through." Femke smiled as she gave her friend a hug. "How is Valtor?"

"Better. The nightmares stopped." Najira smiled as she sat down next to Zaheer and felt his forehead.

"That's good to hear." Femke smiled as she sat down with her friend and took Zaheer's hand in her own. "Will he be okay?"

"I'm not sure but you can help me. The rest has to leave the room." Najira said as she looked up at everyone.

"Why can she stay?" Ming Hua asked.

"Because she is his wife." Najira said, at which Femke turned very red.

"I hate to be a bummer, but we're not married yet." Femke said with a red face.

"I'm sorry. I heard you were married a few months ago so I thought it was to him." Najira said.

"No, that was with Grovyle the Thief." Femke smiled as she admitted this. "It didn't work out between us."

"How come?" Najira asked as she looked at her friend sadly before turning to Zaheer.

"He thought I had another in this dimension. Which wasn't true. He left before I could explain." Femke explained as she watched Najira examine Zaheer.

"You're not someone who does that."Najira remarked before she took Zaheer's temperature and opened his eyes to look at them as well. "Let's focus on Zaheer's disease. I can't seem to find any clear gauge on what he has." The brunette said with her pondering look on the unconscious Zaheer.

"Do you have a theory?" Femke asked.

"Maybe. I need to take a blood sample." Najira said. "Do you remember your lessons?"

"Yes." Femke smiled as she carefully rolled up one of Zaheer's sleeves and made an incision.

"Now for the extraction." Najira said as she caught some of the blood, after which Femke healed the incision with her waterbending. Najira did some quick tests on the blood sample to see what they could find, knowing they had to send it to the Wood Villages on Earth if they couldn't find anything.

"What do you think?" Femke asked after a moment as they looked at the results.

"An infection. He probably needs a blood transfusion." Najira analysed.

"Infection?" Femke gulped.

"It seems to be a fairly mild one that he picked up during his imprisonment." Najira said. "If he gets a blood transfer, he'll be fine."

"Can you test my blood? I'll do it if we have the same blood type." Femke said with a determined look. Najira nodded and took some of her friend's blood to test it.

"Let's see what we got." Najira said as she conjured up a machine for the analysis and transfusion."What do you know? It's a match. Ready for this?"

"Yes." femke said after which Najira connected Zaheer and Femke to the machine so the transfusion would be completed.

"In some cultures this would now make you married." Najira smirked teasingly as she oversaw the transfer, which made Femke blush deeply.

"But I'm not ready yet." Femke blushed. "Maybe later, but not now."

"Just kidding." Najira smirked as she turned off the machine.

"That should do it. You'll feel a bit woozy and faint for a few hours, so take it easy." Najira smiled as she put away her stuff.

"Thanks Najira. You're a lifesaver." Femke smiled as she gave her friend a hug.

"You're welcome. I'll always be there to help you if you need me." Najira smiled as she hugged back.

"Say _'Hi'_ to Valtor for me, okay?" Femke smiled, accepting an energy bar from her friend.

"I will. Make sure you get some rest, okay? You transfered a lot of blood." Najira smiled as she gave Femke's hair a ruffle before she headed out, letting the rest back in.

"What happened?" P'li asked as she walked to Femke with a worried look on her face, seeing the brunette was a lot paler then before.

"I gave some of my blood to zaheer to help him get better." Femke answered as she smiled at Zaheer, who was currently lying next to her with a slight blush on his face.

"What did he need it for?" Opal asked as she sat down next to Femke.

"He had an infection from when he was still imprisoned." Femke explained.

"Was his imprisonment that bad? Why did only he get ill and the rest of them didn't?" Bolin commented.

"We all had it bad. Yet we came out fine. What's his deal?" Ming Hua asked, a little annoyed.

"You guys were three years in a deep coma, which got your body plenty of rest and the IV made it so you got enough nourishment." Femke explained. "P'li lost her memories but was within the Wood Villages as well all.

"Which prevented us from getting ill." Ghazan said before Femke raised her arm, seeing to her great delight that Zaheer was moving.

 _ **"He's waking up!"**_ Femke called when she saw Zaheer sat up, groaning.

 _"What happened?_ " The airbender asked with a dazed look as he looked around, seeing everybody was standing around him and looking at him worriedly while Femke sat next to him and looking pale.

"You passed out after spitting up blood." Femke said as she sat closer and hugged him. "You have a slight infection."

"Femke saved you by blood transfer. You gave us quite the scare." Ghazan said. "And coming from us, that's saying something."

"You did that for _ **me**_?" Zaheer asked as he looked at Femke with a mixture of shock and gratitude.

"No need to be so surprised." Femke teased. "I wasn't going to let you die that easily."

 ** _"Easily?"_** Ghazan asked jokingly.

"Yeah, I still have to get back at him for lying to me three times in a row." Femke smirked as she gave her boyfriend a playful shove. "Also, I'm not letting you die if I can help it. Murdering is something I'm very much against."

"Unless it's someone you don't like." Tonraq challenged.

"I grew out of that. Promise." Femke defended.

"She is speaking the truth. She grew. We all did. " Zaheer said.

"Femke, something I always wanted to know; would you have stood up to Zaheer earlier on if you know how he was?" Lin asked.

"Yes. Murdering people is not the Fairy way." femke said as she looked at her granddaughter firmly. "Whatever you might think of me, I wouldn't have let P'li harm you. I would have rather died myself then letting that happen."

 _"Femke… "_ Lin whispered while Su walked over to her and hugged her.

"You're my granddaughters. My girls. You think I'd be able to live with myself if I let anything happen to either of you?" Femke asked with tears in her eyes.

"If you'd do so, I would be the one to suddenly find killing alright." Toph said with a smirk but Femke knew she was serious.

"I'd be so dead." Femke smirked as she looked at Floxy and the elves coming in with some flowers.

"We got these for you." Yucca smiled as she handed the flowers to Zaheer. "Get well soon."

"Next time just say so when you're feeling ill." P'li said sternly.

"I thought it wasn't that serious at first." Zaheer said, letting Femke sit down next to him and wrap her arm around him as he spoke.

"Well, it was." Femke said. "You should take it easy for a while."

"We could always get Najira back if things go South." Ghazan added.

"He'll be fine." Ming said.

"And without the white lotus hunting us down any more things will go even faster." Noatak said, at which tarrlok nodded.

"As long as we don't get any surprise missions, we can just let you take it easy for a while." Tarrlok agreed.

"Or another mystery to solve." Ghazan smirked.

"You're more than welcome to stay." Queen Ammi smiled.

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

And so it happened. I had to stay in bed and get enough rest as well as plenty of food to regain my strength.

 _If I knew parts of my life were like this I would have stayed home_

Those were my thoughts as I woke up and Femke asked me how i felt. She was kind and caring and they all wanted what was best for me but I hate being coddled.

 _Even if it's Femke who is coddling me, she should know better. I'm not going to die_

I thought as I accepted the food Femke had brought me and then we ate in silence because she knew telling me what she did whenever I was asleep was only going to make me want get out of bed more. I ate in silence, smiling as I saw femke had managed to get me some books so I had something to do when I was awake, which was less than I had hoped.

"How is Ming adapting to royal life?" I asked when I was done eating.

"She hates it. But due to her mother's kindness she is getting the hang of it." Femke answered. "She isn't pressured to do anything she doesn't want."

"That's great to hear. Looks like her mother understands it's not going to work like that." I replied as I opened one of the books on the first pages to see what it was about.

"Noatak started to airbend a few days ago." She brought up with a smile on her face.

"That's great. Wish i had been there to see it." I smiled. I wish I had been there to see how Noatak started to airbend.

 _It's doing me good but I feel like a prisoner again_

I thought bitterly while femke wrapped a arm around me

"I know you hate being cooped up inside but this is only temporarily. Until you're feeling better." Femke said with a sad look while placing a hand on my arm. "I wouldn't know what I would do with myself if I would have to lose you as well."

 _"Femke?"_ I whispered, realizing all this must have brought back the trauma of what had happened with Daniel and Dylan.

 _It's understandable. They were her son and fiancé. She loved them_

I thought as I wrapped both arms around her, reassuring her she wasn't going to lose me. I loved her too much to make her suffer that horror again.

 _"You're not losing me."_ I whispered in her ear _"It's you and me, from now until the day we die."_

"I hope so too, Zaheer. I love you more than I can ever say." Femke smiled as she cuddled into me.

"I love you more." I grinned as I leaned over her and looked her in the eyes.

"That's impossible" Femke smirked as she moved her face a little more towards me.

"I know." I smirked as I bent closer.

"Are you done?" Ming Hua's voice called from behind me as the both of us looked up, Femke blushing.

"Can't we have some alone time?" I said with a small smile, which made Femke giggle a little.

"Not now. There's a letter for you." Tziza said as she handed Femke a letter with a black ribbon around it. "It's from former Firelord Zuko."

"He's still alive?" Femke said with widened eyes. "How many members of the old gaang are still alive?"

"Just read what the message says." Ming Hua said with an annoyed look on her face.

"Hopefully not another mystery to solve." Ghazan commented.

"He has his own people for that." Tziza answered as she flipped her hair from her face.

"He's very likely angry for having done bad things… " Femke sadly said.

"Not really one to talk, is he?" I tried to comfort her. She just sighed as she opened the letter and started to read it.

 _Hello Femke,_

 _How have you been? I am quite well, despite my old age but that is not what I sent this message for._

 _I need your help with an important matter that has to be handled with discretion._

 _Could you and your friends come over to the royal palace as quickly as possible?_

 _Please send Hawkie the Second back with a reply._

 _I hope I get to see you again soon_

 _Your old friend_

 _Zuko_

 _Ps: I've heard some rumors that you have joined the Red Lotus in their quest to destabilize the world. Can you confirm or preferably deny this?_

 _"No scolding. That's a relief."_ Femke sighed before she picked up a pencil, paper and started to write a return message.

"Probably because he doesn't know." Ghazan commented.

"He's suspicious, though." Ming Hua added while I leaned in to see what Femke was writing.

 _Hey there ZuZu_

 _Glad to finally hear you're still among the living. I have wondered about this for quite some time._

 _I can confirm that I joined the Red Lotus but that is a rather long story. I prefer to tell you in person. However, that can't be any time soon._

 _Zaheer has fallen ill and I want to stay by his side. I really hope what you need me for can wait_

 _Love, Femke_

 _Ps: What about your sister, Azula? Is she still alive as well?_

"Zuzu? Really?" I asked when she finished the letter and put it in the small bottle on the hawk's back.

"I call him that just to tease him." Femke answered with a smirk on her face as she walked the hawk to the window. "I'm sure he doesn't mind."

"Let's hope so." Ghazan said as the hawk flew away into the distance.

 _ **"Good luck, Hawkie the Second!"**_ Femke called after him before she closed the window before she walked back to the bed and sat down next to me again.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." I said as I placed a hand on her knee. "What can we do outside without you going in a fit about me getting even more ill."

"Not much, I'm afraid." Femke replied as she rubbed the back of her head, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, I refuse to stay put any longer. It has been too long already." I said as I moved the blankets back and put my feet on the ground. I managed to stand up before my legs started to shake and I fell back with my head in Femke's lap, who looked at me worriedly.

"Guess your body also wants you to stay down." She said as she helped me lie back down and tucked me in.

"My feet don't work properly because I had to stay down for such a long time." I replied with a stern look, feeling my body started to get tired again. It didn't let me get up.

"Get some rest, you just need to regain your strength." Femke said as I complied and soon fell asleep.

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And with that I end chapter thirty. This is going fast!

 _ **Please leave a review.**_


	31. Chapter 31: The firelord's call

Chapter 31: the firelords call

 _ **Femke's POV**_

For the next few months my friends and I stayed at the North Pole. Zaheer stayed in bed most of the time, even as he disliked it a lot. I was grateful when Najira came with the message he was regaining his strength at a faster pace and after nearly a month and a half he was finally able to get up again.

"About time." Zaheer said when he finally stood next to the bed on crutches.

"I know it was hard but it was for the best." I smiled back at him as I helped him walk towards the door and opened it just as Ming Hua walked by with her mother, smiling at us before they turned around the corner and walked on. To my great surprise Ming had been wearing a royal gown and a tiara.

"Was that _**Ming?**_ ' zaheer asked as he looked after her with an incredulity.

"I think they're going to an official meeting." I answered. "Now that her daughter is back in her life again, the Queen is a lot more sociable and she asked Ming to do the same."

"And she's complying? " Zaheer asked me smirking as he walked alongside me, his crutches tapping in a slow rhythm as he did so.

"She doesn't have to. She helps with some adjustments to the North. Thanks to her input things have already become a lot better here for the lower classes. " I smiled, remembering Ming had given a big hand in organizing help for homeless children children like her, who had nobody else to turn to and would otherwise end in bad situations.

"Sounds like she is using her own experiences trying to prevent people from ending up like she did." Zaheer smiled.

"Like a real Voortrix." I smiled, looking up as Xai Bau and Tziza walked towards us.

"Finally out of bed, I see." Xai Bau smiled as he gave his nephew a friendly pat on the back.

"It's not like me to stay in bed for to long." Zaheer replied with a smile.

"You've always valued your freedom." Xai Bau smiled while Noatak and Tarrlok walked around the corner as well, smiling when they saw us.

"Good to see you're doing better." Tarrlok smiled, both them giving my boyfriend a small hug.

"I'm glad to be doing so." Zaheer smirked. "What's with the backpacks?" He wanted to know, noticing both men wore them.

"We just came back from our old family home." Tarrlok smiled, which earned him a prod from Noatak.

"Since we have to stay here for a while so you can recover, we took the opportunity to visit our adoptive mother." Noatak said, the last thing still stinging.

"How did it go?" I asked to know with a sad look. It must have been hard for her to hear her boys knew they were adopted, especially after she just had Noatak back.

"She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Noatak but after we explained what had taken place she was really happy to see us again." Tarrlok explained as we sat down in the library of the palace.

"The house was just like I remembered it. Mom just got a little older, that's all." Noatak shrugged.

How did she react to, you know, you being Amon?" I asked a little hesitant.

"She was angry about it. Saying our father was a honorable man and was spinning in his grave because of me behaving like that." Noatak replied with his head down.

"It was hard to break the news to her that our father was Yakone." Tarrlok nodded. "But we had to be honest with her. She had to know what happened."

"How did she take it?" Zaheer asked.

"Badly. At first she thought we were making it up to excuse our behavior." Tarrlok said.

"When I showed her I could bloodbend and told her dad taught us that in secret during those _'hunting trips'_ off his, she believed us" Noatak said with his head down.

"She took it badly. Going as far as blaming herself for not noticing." Tarrlok said with a solemn look.

"Well, if you want to get technical about it." Noatak said.

"How could she have seen it coming? He covered up everything." Tarrlok said. "She **_trusted_** him, thinking he ** _loved_** her."

"That was naïve." Zaheer said. "She never noticed something was bothering you and didn't even ask why Noatak got so distant all of a sudden?"

"She probably assumed it was part of puberty since Noatak was in his early teens when he started to distance himself." I brought up, looking at Noatak. "The only strange thing she never picked up on is Yakone's abusive behavior towards the boys."

"She was never there when it happened. If he wanted to he sent her out on a chore." Tarrlok replied.

"She never noticed any injuries? " I asked.

"No. If he hit us he was always careful to hit us on places that stayed hidden under out clothes." Tarrlok said with a shrug. "That rarely happened. Mostly it was mental abuse."

"Horrible." I shuddered.

"We got used to it." Noatak shrugged. "We did manage to convince her dad was a horrible man and the cause of us going down the wrong path until you got us out." He smiled.

"Did you tell her what we found out?" I asked.

"Yes and she wants to meet you someday." Tarrlok smiled. "She was really impressed by what we told her."

"Nice." I smiled. "I would love to meet her as well."

"We could go visit together next weekend." Tarrlok smiled. "If you and Zaheer feel up for it."

"I am. I feel a lot better already." Zaheer replied, smiling. I had to admit he was right. He was looking a lot healthier already.

"Anyway, any idea were P'li and Ghazan are?" Zaheer asked.

"They'll arrive any minute now" Master Xai Bau smiled as he placed a hand on my boyfriend's shoulder. "They have been home for the weekend."

"Everybody wants to spend some time with their families now that they still can." Tziza commented, smiling.

"Can't blame them. I would have done the same if my mother hadn't **_insisted_** on an arranged marriage" Zaheer nodded.

"About that… " Tarrlok started. "She'll arrive any day now."

 _ **"OH."**_ Zaheer smirked as he stumbled over to elbow him. "You finally had the courage to talk?"

"We have been writing each other for the past two months." Tarrlok admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Some love never fades." Noatak said as Tarrlok gave him a prod.

"Says the one who can't even speak to P'li without blushing." Tarrlok teased, which made Noatak turn a deep shade of red.

 _ **"That's so romantic!"**_ Femke beamed.

"I know the feeling." Zaheer admitted with a small smile.

"I heard the two of you really loved each other until you started to develop feelings for Femke." Noatak smiled.

"That was a grand old mess, wasn't it? Glad it turned out okay." Tarrlok said, backing away a little when Noatak gave him a firm glare.

"It was wrong to go behind her back. Do you know how match that must have hurt?" Noatak asked firmly.

"I was told the love of my life is already engaged to someone else, does that count?" Tarrlok admitted looking down as he said this.

"Let's not turn this in a competition." Noatak huffed as he looked to the side, blushing when he saw P'li turning around the corner.

"I have to go." He said after which he quickly walked off.

"What's with him?" Zaheer asked as he looked after Noatak.

"The same thing that was with you for the longest time." Ghazan smirked as he gave Zaheer a firm pat on the back.

"I wasn't _ **that**_ bad." Zaheer sputtered.

"Yes you were." Ghazan said teasingly.

"We were young." Zaheer stammered.

"And you loved her." Ghazan said.

"Probably." Zaheer smiled at P'li, who nodded in reply.

"It wasn't easy to trust anyone after all I went through at that point." P'li said, looking down sadly. "But it got better thanks to everyone giving me the courage to keep trying to build trust."

"That's in the past. In the present, Noatak likes you." I smiled as I elbowed my friend.

"You think?" P'li asked.

"Certainly." I said, smirking.

"I don't know. What if you mistake the signs?" P'li asked.

"I know him." I replied smiling as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me on this."

"I guess I should try and talk to him." She smiled before she headed off to do just that, just as another familiar looking girl walked around the corner.

 _ **"Tar!"**_ She exclaimed, dropping her bag before she ran towards him.

 _ **"Alli!"**_ Tarrlok smiled, running towards her as well, scooping her up before they shared a kiss. "It's been too long."

"It has. How have you been?" Allerys asked as she hugged him.

"I'm a Voortrix Fairy now and on my way to save the world." Tarrlok smiled. As he returned the hug.

"I did read some headlines though. I thought you were an honest politician." Allerys said sternly

.

"I know it was wrong of me to go down that path. Thanks to my half sister Femke I know that now." Tarrlok smiled at me when he said this as Allerys turned and looked at me.

"You're the Fairy I saw in Ba Sing Se, right?" She asked as she looked at me with a small smile.

"That was me. My name's Femke." I introduced myself. "These are my friends; P'li, Ghazan, Xai Bau, Tziza and my other half brother Noatak; Tarrlok's older brother."

"Didn't he die?" Allerys asked as she looked at him, shocked.

"I thought so as well, until we found out he somehow survived that blizzard and changed his name into Amon." Tarrlok explained.

"How did he manage that?" Allerys asked.

"He used bloodbending to control his own body temperature and found shelter." Tarrlok answered.

"I made my blood pump faster, which kept me warm enough to survive the blizzard and find shelter until it settled down." Noatak explained as he walked back around the corner.

"That sounds like you've been through hell. I'm glad he didn't lose you in that blizzard. That said, this doesn't make up for the horrible things you did." Allerys said with an accusing tone in her voice.

"We know." Tarrlok said as he hugged Allerys. "That's why we want to help Femke save the world."

"All of us made mistakes but we all learned from it and managed to move away from it. All thanks to Femke." Zaheer smiled as he hugged me.

"And to Korra handing your butts to you." I said with a teasing smirk. "Let's not forget **_she_** did all the hard work."

"I sure did." Korra said as she entered the library with a messenger hawk on her arm.

"This just came in for you." Korra said while she let the messenger hawk fly over to me, carrying a message with a black line on it, meaning it was very important.

"Hey Hawkie the Second."I smiled, giving it a small pat on the head before I took the message from the Hawk's back, who tapped its beak against my cheek in a friendly way before he flew to a stand in the corner.

"He likes you." Ghazan smirked as I took the message and opened it, smiling when I saw Zuko had tried to write to me in English, which he had been practicing.

 _Hello Femke_

 _,I hope my english is getting better. I'm saddened to hear you couldn't get along with Korra. It might somewhat explain why you choose to do what you did I have to say I am deeply disappointed in you for letting your personal emotions get in the way of your decisions._

 _Sokka and I are both world leaders and Aang was your closest friend. Do you_ _ **realize**_ _how terrible it was what you did? Do you_ _ **realize**_ _they had come for_ _ **me?**_ _For my_ _ **daughter**_ _? Did you hate Korra that much that you wanted to_ _ **murder**_ _her? You could have ruined_ _ **everything**_ _we fought for._ _ **YOU**_ _fought for. Destroyed Aang's culture once more._

 _I know you were hurt and I understand you might have found solace with them. It's what I once did. But realize what you almost destroyed. What you had almost done to those that meant the most to you. Aang would be turning in his grave if he knew what you did. Murdering innocent people is against everything he ever believed in._

 _That being said, could you please come? It is very urgent._

 _Best regards,_

 _Zuko_

 _I figured as much_

I thought as I looked over the letter sadly.

"He doesn't mince words, does he?" Zaheer said as I went and took a blank piece of paper.

"Harsh." Ghazan smirked.

"I understand where he's coming from." I replied as I looked at my friends sadly. "What he says is true. I almost destroyed everything they believed in."

"But when you realised your mistake you helped to make the world a better place. Guiding the people around you." Toph's voice called from behind me as she entered the library.

"I tried my best but doesn't excuse what I did." I said as I looked down.

"It doesn't but you did understand the error in your ways, which can't be said of every bonehead that I've met." Toph smirked. "You learned from the mistakes you made just like Zuko did all those years ago. You gave him a second chance by trusting him when Katara didn't. Maybe he should be the wiser one now and return the favor." My daughter said.

"I think I'd draw the line at them killing Zuko. I'd kill them if they did that." I said as I turned around to them.

"That would change your mind?" Zaheer asked.

"He is one of my best friends as well. I wouldn't have let you hurt him. Even if I have to die myself." I admitted looking down.

 _"Femke."_ Zaheer whispered, getting up, stumbling because he forgot to grab his crutches but I managed to grab him before he could fall.

"I'm sorry Zaheer but just as match as I like you, he is also my friend. I would have never hurt him. Not even if he had been the one hurting me." I said as I looked him deep in his eyes, hoping he would understand.

 _"Figures."_ Ming Hua muttered as she looked to the side.

"I understand. Your old friends mean a lot to you." Zaheer smiled. "I would have done anything to protect my friends if I had been in your position."

"We're touched." Ghazan smirked.

"I was too far away at that moment. Had I been there, I would have risk **_everything_** to protect the two of you. Even if it had meant me dying." Zaheer said sternly.

"Back to the subject at hand." Ming Hua interrupted. "Are we going to see him?"

"I think we should wait a little longer." I said sternly, shooting Zaheer a worried glance.

"Why wait?" P'li asked as she entered the room.

"Until Zaheer can stand up without crutches again. Then we head back into action." I explained. "I don't want the illness to get worse again."

"Maybe he just wants to talk face to face." Tarrlok offered up, at which Allerys nodded.

"I don't think so. His letter sounded urgent." I replied with a pondering look. "I already explained most of the things happened in messages the past one month and a half. If he just wanted me to come over he would have just said so."

"True." Zaheer agreed.

"So are we going?" Ghazan asked.

"I agree with Femke. Zaheer should still take it easy. We have to postpone it until he is better." Ming Hua said firmly.

"You also don't wants to leave home now you found it." Ghazan commented.

"I do. I just don't want Femke to start moping again." Ming Hua said but I could clearly see she was lying. She was enjoying life with her mother.

"No need. I will be alright" Zaheer smiled.

"And what if you aren't?" I asked my boyfriend worriedly.

"Then I'll just have to stay here." zaheer said, before he looked to the side with a hurt look. Being ill was very hard for him.

"It's probably another mystery we have to solve." Ghazan commented.

"If you're up to it." I questioned Zaheer as I looked him in his eyes. Zaheer nodded in reply. "Then I will write to Zuko we're going to the Fire Nation."

"We're going to take a trip to the Fire Nation." Ghazan smirked.

"If we go on like this we've seen all parts of the world soon." P'li agreed. "I think we have not been in all four air temples yet." P'li agreed nodding.

"Maybe someday we will visit the last two." I smirked as I got a pencil and started to write down a message for Zuko;

 _Hello Zuko,_

 _We will leave the North Pole by dawn tomorrow. We will arrive in a few days if they weather stays as good as it is now._

 _What you said is true. I made the mistake of letting my emotions get the better of me and with that I endangered the whole world. I am truly sorry for the harm I caused. But you should know that, had they gone to the Fire Nation next, I would have stood up for you. No matter what, you're still my friend, Zuko. Even if i had to attack them to keep them away from you I would have done it._

 _I am a lot Zuko but I am not a monster. I will never be, whatever you might think of me. I hoped you would know that after all we have been through back then._

 _See you in a few days_

 _Love,_

 _Femke_

"There we go." I smiled as I put the message in the tube on Hawkie's back and put the black line back in place. "Take that to Zuko, please? I will see you in a few days."

Hawkie screeched in reply, which made me smile.

 _ **"See ya!"**_ Ghazan called as I opened the window and allowed the hawk to fly out.

"I better go tell my mother we have to go see the Firelord." Ming said after a short while after which she headed off.

"The rest of us should go pack." I replied, looking after Hawkie.

"Good idea." Zaheer nodded.

 _ **Normal POV**_

Three days of traveling later, the Voortrix with Master Xai Bau and Tziza stood before the Fire Nation's Royal Palace where a guard was already waiting for them, making some of them back away slightly.

"This way, Lord Zuko is already waiting for you." The man said as he gestured for the group to follow him. _"We could have easily handled the mission just as well."_ They heard him mutter under his breath as they walked through the long hallways towards the throne room.

 _"This place hasn't changed much over the years."_ Femke whispered to Zaheer. _"It's exactly the same as all those years ago."_

"Remember fighting all of those Fire Nation soldiers here to reach Ozai?" Toph smirked.

"Hasn't changed a bit, has it?" Femke replied. "The same with the Earth Kingdom Palace."

"I remember that door being broken. By me." Toph smirked.

"Only for Zaheer to break it again when we entered." Femke smirked, which made Toph snicker a little.

"I was more careful. I remember you saying the door at least stayed in one piece." Zaheer added, wrapping a arm around his girlfriend carefully.

"A pretty banged up piece." Femke said. "The Earth Queen's reaction wasn't as funny as the Earth King's, though."

"That woman had a dreadful sense of humor." Toph nodded. "Rarely laughed."

"She did." Zuko replied to Toph as he stood before his throne while Firelord Izumi sat on the one next to him.

"Lord Zuko." Femke smiled as she bowed before her friend.

"No need to be so formal." Zuko smiled as he came down the small stairs before the platform the thrones stood on. "How about a friendly hug?"

"Even after all I did?" Femke asked as she looked up at her old friend with surprise.

"But you're trying to make up for it, right?" Zuko smiled as he closed in now and hugged Femke. "I understand how that feels."

 _"Zuko… "_ Femke whispered as she now returned the hug. "I'm so sorry. I never intended for any of this to happen. I just… " Femke stammered, words failing her as she felt tears flow over her cheeks.

"I know." Zuko smiled as he rubbed the brunette over her back to comfort her. "What I do want to know; why did you allow Zaheer to murder the Earth Queen? You knew that was going to create chaos. Not even getting into the morality of murder in general."

"I turned around to late. He was already bending the air from her lungs by the time I handled the Dai Lee attacking us." Femke explained.

"Because you threatened to kill her." Zuko said sternly.

"Because we **_refused_** to tell her to tell where the Airbenders were Master Tenzin and Avatar Korra took from her city by force in exchange for our freedom." Zaheer said.

"Which _ **wasn't**_ the deal." Ghazan added.

"What **_was_** the deal?" Zuko asked.

"The whereabouts of her _'stolen'_ Airbenders for Korra." Zaheer said.

"You fought the Dai Lee out of self defense." Zuko nodded. "What drove you to murder, if I may ask?" Zuko asked sternly, which made Zaheer look up at him with shock.

"There was no reasoning with her and she was in the way of our ultimate goal." Zaheer said.

"They were out of balance and believed that chaos would bring true freedom." Toph brought in. "Femke talked them out of it."

"And Korra kicked their butts." Femke added, before getting serious. "So what was that secret mission all about you wrote about?" She asked.

"A woman escaped the village of Song Pan, claiming there is a monster living in one of the houses." Zuko said as he looked at the Red lotus Crew firmly.

"We want you to investigate this and see what you can do to stop this monster." Firelord Izumi said as she got up and stood next to her father now.

"You think there is a **_real_** monster?" Zaheer asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. We can't be too careful." Izumi said with a stern look.

"Her mother taught her a thing or two about believing." Zuko smirked as he gave Femke a playful nudge. "She would **_never_** believe me."

"Just like Mai." Femke smiled.

"Who said I married Mai?" Zuko asked teasingly, which made Femke look up at him dumbfounded, before she coughed. "To get back the subject at hand; if there is a real monster, what do you want us to do?" She asked.

"You will report to _**me**_ once you arrive and I will give you clearance to get rid of the monster if it poses a threat." Zuko said. "Do you understand?"

"Got it." Femke said with a firm nod, which got Zuko smiling.

"Here, a woman living in the area gave us a map on which the house with the monster was marked." Zuko said as he handed Femke a map, which she looked at once before she handed it to Zaheer. "Take Fang, he will get you to the village safely. Good luck."

"Good luck, Voortrix." Firelord izumi smiled, at which Femke nodded before she turned around and along with the others, left for the village.

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And with that I end another chapter. I hope you all liked it.

Thanks for reading. And also thanks to Paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as a beta reader and advisor. Be sure to check out her stuff as well when you're done here.

 _ **Please leave a review.**_


	32. Chapter 32: the mysterious woman

Chapter 32: The Locked Woman

 _ **Normal POV**_

"Okay, we're almost in Songpan. Where is the house?" Zaheer asked, standing with his crutches next to Femke, who looked on the paper Lord Zuko had given to her with an address they had to check out. It was rumored that someone was living there but no one had ever seen them outside, the windows were barricaded and the garden was dilapidated.

"There it is." Femke answered while she helped P'li get off the dragon they rode towards the village. Zaheer nodded and crossed the street while Ming Hua and Ghazan walked in front of them to the house, soon followed by the rest.

"Nice house. Little paint, some repairs and it should be comfy." Ghazan commented, causing Ming Hua to glare at him.

"Looks deserted." Zaheer commented as he studied the tall building before him. Femke nodded and studied the house as well. It looked rather old, but it was surrounded by new houses. It looked scary, Femke shivered at the idea that something terrible might be inside.

"Looks can deceive. " Allerys commented as she looked at the house, shivering a little at the sight of it. "I mean, why wouldn't they just break the house down and build something new like they did with the other houses if nothing's inside?"

"Good point." Tarrlok said.

"The owner probably didn't have the money. Not to mention it's in the middle of two perfectly good houses that could be damaged by removing it now." Noatak said.

"Money doesn't seem to be the problem. Look at the rest of the housing. This is a thriving village." Xai Bau noted.

"So there's probably someone living there who doesn't want it to change." Tziza said.

"Looks empty to me. No one would live in a house like that." Tarrlok said as he put his coat around the shoulders of Allerys, who was trembling.

"You're probably right, lets get…" Femke started, but stopped when she saw two piercing red eyes look at her from inside the house but when she waved, the eyes disappeared.

"Someone's in there. We gotta ring the doorbell; see who opens." She said, her mind made up. Zaheer looked at her, shocked, when she said this out of nowhere. But he knew she had the correct first instinct, so he rang the doorbell and waited for an answer.

"No reply." Xai Bau noted after a moment of silence.

"Now what?" Ghazan asked after they had rang the bell a few more times and no one had answered it. People were starting to stare at the large group.

"Zuko asked us for this investigation, so we're going in to see what's in there. Besides, I won't be able to sleep peacefully for weeks if I don't go and see what's inside." Femke admitted with a sheepish smile as she took a pin out of her hair, ready to pick the lock.

"Immediately going for breaking and entering? Weren't you our moral center?" Ghazan asked rather dryly.

"Since when do you know how to pick a lock?" Tarrlok asked in surprise.

"Well, this is my first try since I was sixteen." Femke smirked as she started picking at the lock. Soon, a soft _'click'_ was heard. "And we're in." She declared with a smile on her face.

"That's a useful skill to have." Zaheer smiled at her proudly as she opened the door, only to slam it shut again when she saw two bright red eyes shine in the hallway.

 _"What was_ _ **that?**_ _!"_ Zaheer gasped in shock as he looked at Ghazan and Ming Hua who looked at each other.

"It didn't looked too friendly." Xai Bau said, looking quite shocked as well.

"Only one way to find that out." Femke said as she looked at her friends sadly before she re-opened the door, which made the red eyes immediately re-appear. This time Femke wasn't frightened and took a step towards them.

"Uhm, hi. Who are you?" Femke asked hesitantly. The shadow was close enough to see that it had the form of a person.

"Who are _ **YOU?**_ What do _**you**_ want?" The shadow asked with a threatening sound in her voice which made Femke back away. They still couldn't see who they were dealing with and the dangerous tone in her voice didn't help.

"My name is Femke and these are my friends: Ming Hua, Ghazan, Noatak, Tarrlok, Allerys, Xai Bau, Tziza, P'li and my boyfriend Zaheer."

Femke smiled as she introduced her friends who looked at her with widened eyes as Femke was smiling warmly. She stared at P'li.

"You like her? But she is a _**Combustion Bender.**_ " The stranger stammered as she looked at them with shock, unable to understand how it could be that this woman was so kind towards a Combustion Bender. When Femke heard her ask this she looked up with surprise.

"Well, yes. P'li has been my best friend ever since I joined the Red Lotus." Femke said with a smile on her face as she rubbed P'li over her hair in a teasing way. The stranger could clearly see what happened next. P'li stuck out her tongue at Femke, which made that Femke gave her a little prod.

"How old are you two? _**Five?**_ " Allerys smiled, chuckling a little at their antics.

 _ **Stranger's POV**_

I was shocked to found out these people broke into my house but what shocked me even more was not just that a Combustion Bender was among them, but how she was treated. Like an equal. With love and care. I never knew people could care about Combustion Benders like this.

"Why are you _**here**_?" I asked angrily. I never received visitors. Or at least not ones that meant well.

"Could you first turn on a light please? It's so dark here. We can't see a thing and we would all like to see your face." This Femke asked as she scanned the area with her soft yellow glowing eyes.

 _ **"No! No light! This house has to stay dark at all costs!"**_ I answered, scared. If any lights were turned on, I could be attacked.

"Why not?" Femke asked as she looked at her boyfriend, who shook his head.

"If any lights are turned on here they will come in and..." I stopped before I could say _'kill me',_ not wanting to tell them this but it seemed there was no need for me to finish my line. Their eyes grew big when I said this before they all exchanged a look of pity.

"That's terrible." Allerys replied with a look of horror on her face.

"And just plain wrong. Whatever you did, no one deserves to live like this." Tarrlok added as he held Allerys. This felt strange but comforting. They all seemed to care I existed.

"If you never get outside the house and have to stay here in the dark, how do you get food?" Ghazan asked. They felt bad for me. It was the first time that happened in such a long time that it almost felt like a dream to me butt it was real. There were really people here with me. Talking to me and caring me.

"Ghazan has a good point. How do you keep yourself alive?" Xai Bau commented as he looked around for a sign of any form of food. He wouldn't find anything.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

"If you never get outside the house and have to stay here in the dark, how do you get food?" Ghazan asked the strange woman. I kind of wondered that too.

"Ghazan has a good point. How do you keep yourself alive?" Xai Bau commented as he looked around for a sign of any form of food, which he didn't find, and neither did I. They either didn't eat at all ore she ate already and threw out whatever was left.

 _She probably doesn't get that much_

I thought as i watched her scurry around a little in her corner, not comfortable with our questions.

"Once a day someone from the grocery store brings me a bag of food and other things I need. I'm allowed to collect them after sunset, when nobody can see me."

The woman replied as she walked towards a small living room, having given up on trying to get us away. We followed and I noticed that it had a claustrophobic atmosphere. It was dark in here as well but from between two branches that blocked the window came some beams of light. When the woman turned around to face us, I could see her face fully for the first time.

 _She looks beautiful but also like she's been through a lot_

I thought as I studied her face. she was a middle aged woman with a kind face and gleaming eyes. She was wearing an old ragged brown dress and she wore a bandana that almost covered her whole forehead but when she scratched her forehead, the bandana loosened up a bit, revealing the outlines off a third eye tattoo on her forehead. I knew that symbol.

"You're a _**Combustion Bender.**_ " I said excitedly as I took a step closer towards her but the look in her eyes that she gave me made me step back again as the woman put her bandana back in place.

"That's nothing to be excited about. It's the main reason I'm stuck here. The towns people locked me in here because they're afraid of me." The woman replied as she looked at the bars in front of the window sadly.

"Why would they do that?" Xai Bau asked as he took a step towards the woman who backed away as she stared at him with her red eyes.

"They think I'm a monster. It has been like that for as long as I can remember. " She answered, tears in her eyes as she looked outside.

"That's horrible." I said with as I looked through the bars, trying to imagine what it had to be like to be stuck here.

"Whatever did you do to make them treat you like this?" Noatak asked.

"All you need to know is that I can't get out of here. _**Ever.**_ " The last part she said with a sad look.

"The Firelord was informed of your existence." Xai Bau said with a gentle voice.

"That's why we're here." Tziza smiled warmly at her as she took a step closer to the woman, who flinched away.

"The sun has almost set. I can almost go get my stuff." The woman said as she noticed the setting sun.

 _She must be so used to it by now she just… knows_

Feria commented in my head. I agreed.

"It must be horrible for you."

I repeated with a sad look on my face.

"I'm used to it." The woman calmly replied as she turned to face me, her red eyes turning to a soft yellow.

"When was the last time you went outside?" Tarrlok asked as he moved to the side so that the woman could pass us without getting touched.

"When I was around the five years old. Just before my parents… " She started, but stopped as words failed her. She just rushed to the door and I watched the woman open it, look from left to right and then quickly grabbing her bag, pulling it inside and locking the door again. I noticed she wore a worn out dress and was rail thin.

 _There can't be much good in that bag_

I thought as I carefully peeked over the woman's shoulder and into the bag. It was quite a lot of groceries, but it looked day-old leftovers. She got the things out of the bag and started to put them into her cupboards.

 _It wouldn't surprise me if she didn't know any better_

I taught as I rummaged in my pockets, trying to find something eatable before I got out a chocolate bar which I handed to the woman with a smile on my face.

"Here. It's not much but it's better then the food you have at the moment." I said as I handed the chocolate bar to her. I saw the poor woman look at it for a moment, before she gobbled it up.

"It's delicious." She smiled at us, after which I looked at Zaheer sadly. I saw he was looking at her with pity in his eyes as well while P'li was holding on to him. I had to agree with them. Poor thing.

"Having to be hungry each day must be terrible." Xai Bau said with a sad look.

"I'm used to it." The woman replied sadly.

"That's no good." Ilena spoke up.

"What happens when you need medical attention?" Ilena asked. I didn't even think of that.

"A few soldiers come to check every day. If they see I need medical attention, they inform the Mayor and a doctor will come." The woman said. "If they feel like it."

"And no one ever questioned this?" Tarrlok asked.

"Why would they? It would just get them in trouble." The woman replied sadly. "I don't think they even know."

"Someone did. Which is why we're here." Xai Bau smiled and we all nodded.

"Do you have any idea if they're still alive?" The woman asked.

"Probably." P'li smiled at her warmly as the woman sighed in relief.

 _"Leeina."_ The woman smiled.

"Wonder how much she cares if all she did was send a letter." Ghazan said. This sparked something in the woman. She got upset. Angry even.

 _ **"**_ _ **How… how can you say that?!"**_ She yelled. _**"How can you talk like that about the only person who ever helped me?!"**_

"Well, you have to admit that…" Ghazan tried, but it was too late as the woman's eyes started glowing red.

 _ **"**_ _ **GET OUT!"**_ She roared. _**"Get out! All of you! You're not here to help! You wouldn't say that if you truly cared!"**_

"But we do. We really do." I tried, but one look of the woman silenced me. _"We'll go…"_ I softly said, guiding everyone, who were shooting Ghazan dirty looks, outside.

Once outside, I looked back into the house, to the place I knew the woman was standing and watching us.

 _"We will help you. You're not fighting on your own. Ever again."_

I whispered before I closed the door behind me and looked at my friends who were all still looking at Ghazan, who just looked down guilty. I just looked at the sunset. Whatever it was gonna take we were going to do whatever we could to free that poor woman of her prison.

 _ **Unknown POV**_

"Here. It's not much but it's better then the food you have at the moment."

The young woman named Femke said as she offered me something I hadn't seen since I was a child. A chocolate bar. I quickly ate it, which earned me some glances from Femke and her friends.

 _They come to help me. They really come to help me._

I thought as I looked at them with a small smile. I started to trust them. Even if it was just a little.

"It's delicious." I smiled at them as I watched the other Combustion bender look at me sadly while the others all looked at me with pity in their eye. It started to annoy me. I wasn't some caged animal.

"Having to feel hungry each day must be terrible." Xai Bau noted with a sad look.

"I'm used to it." I replied, once more a bit annoyed.

"That's no good." Ilena spoke up. "What happens if you need medical attention?"

"A few soldiers come to check every day. If they see I need medical attention, they inform the Mayor and a doctor will come." I said. "If they feel like it."

"And no one ever questioned this?" Tarrlok asked.

"Why would they? It would just get them in trouble." I replied sadly. "I don't think they even know."

"Someone did. Which is why we're here." Xai Bau smiled as they all nodded.

"Do you have any idea if they're still alive?" I asked.

"Probably." P'li smiled at me warmly as I sighed in relief.

 _"Leeina."_ I smiled, remembering one of the few people who cared.

 _"Hello there." A young woman smiled as she waved at the me as I had opened the door to get my food. I wanted to scurry back inside but she simply approached me._

 _"Wait. I won't hurt you." The woman smiled as she approached me. I just looked at her with widened eyes. "Poor girl… Hold on, I have something." She said, handing over a chocolate bar that I immediately ate. It was delicious._

 _"Tastes good, doesn't it?" She smiled._

 _"Yes." I softly said. not fully understanding how she was so nice to me. I was a monster… She should fear me._

 _"My name is Leena." The woman smiled as she patted me on the head._

 _"Leena." I repeated with a smile._

 _"And what's your name?" Leena asked nicely._

 _"The monster of the locked house." I replied sadly, knowing that using my real name was a waste of time. No one ever wanted to know that._

 _"What did your parents name you?" the woman asked, smiling, which made me look up at her with shock. No one had ever asked me that._

 _"They called me Atteritta." I replied softly._

 _"That's a very pretty name." The woman said. "A pretty name for a pretty girl."_

 _"Uhm… Thank you." I stammered, taken aback by this kindness._

 _"You're welcome, dear." The woman smiled as she softly rubbed me over my cheek. "You don't have to be afraid of me. Just like people don't need to be afraid of you."_

 _"They don't? Not even the major?" I had asked with a shocked voice. He was the one that ordered me to stay inside. Why would he do that if there wasn't a reason to be afraid of me?_

 _"Not even the mayor. He's just going off the stories his father told him." The woman smiled. "Maybe someday he will stop being afraid."_

 _"How?" I asked, but at that point the Mayor passed the house, looking from the woman to me with a shocked look. The woman immediately stood up._

 _"_ _I have to go now. But don't forget: you deserve kindness." She said before walking away._

"And no one ever questioned this?" Tarrlok asked as he looked at me sadly, snapping me out of my memory.

"Why would they? It would just get them in trouble." I replied sadly. "I don't think they even know."

"Someone did. Which is why we're here." Xai Bau smiled and they all nodded. _Could it be…?_

"Do you have any idea if they're still alive?" I asked.

"Probably." P'li smiled at me warmly as I sighed in relief.

 _"Leena."_ I smiled. It had to be her.

"Wonder how much she cares if all she did was send a letter." Ghazan said. _**What? Why would he say that?! He didn't know!**_

 _ **"**_ _ **How… how can you say that?!"**_ I yelled. _**"How can you talk like that about the only person who ever helped me?!"**_

"Well, you have to admit that…" Ghazan tried. I wouldn't have any of it. I could feel my eyes heating up as they started to glow in rage.

 _ **"**_ _ **Get out!"**_ I roared. _**"Get out! All of you! You're not here to help! You wouldn't say that if you truly cared!"**_

"But we do. We really do." One of them said, but stopped when I looked at her. _"We'll go…"_ She softly said, guiding everyone outside. I just glared at them the entire time.

Once they were gone I looked out of the house at them, cursing at myself to have let my hopes up.

 _They couldn't help me._

 _Nobody could._

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And with that I end the chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to thank paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	33. Chapter 33: atteritta's story

Chapter 33: Atteritta's story

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _Hello Zuko,_

 _We investigated the house as you requested and we found that is inhabited by a young woman who appears to be a Combustion Bender._

 _The people seem to be under the impression she's dangerous._

 _Contact me as soon as possible on what to do. We really want to help her._

 _Love, Femke_

Femke wrote on a piece of paper as soon as they were out of the house., watching after Hawkie the second as he flew to the royal palace.

"How long until a reply?" Zaheer asked as he stood next to Femke.

"Soon, I hope." Femke replied as she looked at her boyfriend sadly before looking back at the house. "We need to get her out of there." After that they all went silence until the fluttering of wings caught everybody's attention.

"That was fast." Ghazan smirked.

"Two black lines even. This is serious." Femke commented as she undid the lid of the messenger tube and got the letter out.

"What does it say?" Ilene asked, looking over her friend's shoulder.

 _Don't try to kick up a fuss. I'll be in Songpan shortly._

 _Zuko_

"He's coming **_himself?!_** " Dizanna said with a shocked look.

"He's aware that this isn't the way to treat someone." Allerys said.

"So what is our plan?" P'li asked, looking around firmly.

"Well, trying to get her not to hate us any more is a good start." Femke said with a pondering look.

"Sneaking her some food might help." Dizanna said sternly.

"Sounds like a plan." Ilena nodded.

"How?" Selvia asked.

"We could use a distraction." Xai Bau brought up.

"Good idea." Femke smiled before she looked around. The street was quite busy at the moment. "Not now. We have to come back tomorrow after we worked out the details."

"Femke is right. We need to be prepared." Zaheer agreed.

"Let's get some rest and come back here tomorrow." Xai Bau nodded, after which they all turned around and started to walk away. Femke was the only one looking back one more time at the house

 _Hang in there. We're going to get you out of there_

Femke thought, smiling as she saw the red eyes appear behind the bars again. Femke put her hand up and waved.

The next day, the Red Lotus members returned to the house. Femke carried a big bag of groceries with her.

"I'm sure she will be delighted to have some proper food to eat and be able to wash herself." Femke smiled as she looked at Zaheer with gleaming eyes, who nodded in reply and looked at the house.

"We have to be careful not to be seen. We don't need the fuss." Zaheer told her sternly, at which Femke grinned. She was already one step ahead.

"Zaheer is right. We have to be careful." Xai Bau said, at which Tziza nodded.

"Let's make a bit of a fuss. We can use the commotion to place the bag without people noticing." Femke smiled deviously as she got a firecracker out of her pocket before she showed it to the others.

"Where did you get _**that?**_ " Noatak asked.

"I kept one in my pocket. Felt like it could come in handy." Femke smirked as the group went to the forested area outside of town to plan.

"Looks like she's a step ahead of you." Ghazan noted.

"I'm lucky to have her." Zaheer smiled at femke, which caused her to blush and P'li to look at Zaheer sadly. She still didn't like it when he was so openly smitten with her. It still hurt.

 _Well, maybe not as much_

She thought as she looked at Noatak, blushing a little as their eyes met before she quickly turned away.

"P'li, you light the firecracker. Xai Bau, Tziza and Ghazan, be ready to fight. Ming Hua and Selvia; you're on lookout while I place the bag. The rest of you be ready to help me if I get in trouble." Femke instructed at which the others gave a curt nod. They all knew what they had to do.

"What do we do if someone spots you or when it doesn't work?" Zaheer asked with a worried look. He had been there before and it frightened him.

 ** _I can't start to think like that! What's done is done. I can't let it effect my actions in the now_**

Zaheer told himself firmly as femke smiled at him.

"We'll try something else. And if that doesn't work well… don't even think about that."

Femke smirked as she quoted her former husband Grovyle.

"We're in the middle of a mission and you're quoting your ex?" Zaheer asked as he gave his girlfriend a teasing grin.

"You're always quoting that Guru of yours and I wanted to try it." Femke replied with the same grin on her face.

"Touché." The older airbender grinned. After which P'li rolled her eyes, got up, walked to the town's main square and set off the firecracker, which indeed seemed to cause a panic as she calmly walked away.

"Femke knows how to cause a scene." Ghazan smirked as he watched the people run around in a panic while Femke snuck to the door and placed the bag with groceries on the doorstep and knocked to try and make her come get it before anyone would notice it.

"She was always like that." Noatak smiled as he and Tarrlok looked at the panicking crowd.

"That's Femke; always ready to stir things up." Tarrlok smirked as he watched Femke get out of sight as fast as she could and get back to them.

"That went exactly as planned" She grinned as she watched the bag. As they did so, a tall man managed to calm the people down. Assuring them no one was in danger.

"Now lets hope she gets it." Ilene started but stopped when Selvia tapped on her shoulder and pointed to the man, who had noticed the bag.

"That's not supposed to be there." The man said, just as the door opened slightly after which a hand appeared reaching for the bag, quickly retreating it and closing the door when the man came to the doorstep and opened the bag to see what was inside.

"And this is fresh as well." He said, before shrugging. "Hey, free groceries." The man said as he took the bag with him.

"That was a bust." Tziza said with a sad look on her face.

"Why do they treat her like that?" Allerys said with tears in her eyes as the man walked off with the bag. He was approached by someone else.

"Oh, hello Major." The man with the bag said.

"Who put that bag there? Everyone knows it's against the rules." The man, who looked like he was the Major of the village, asked.

"Thank goodness they didn't see us. Who knows what would have happened." P'li commented.

"Now what?" Ming Hua asked.

 _What more can we do to get that stuff inside?_

Femke thought as she looked at the Major who looked down when he saw the hand come out of the house again, searching for the bag Femke had put down for her. The man grabbed the hand tightly.

 _ **"**_ _ **You should stay**_ _ **inside l**_ _ **ike we ordered you."**_ He hissed.

 _"Oh my."_ Tziza softly gasped.

"Why are they treating her like that? She looks fine to me. If not a bit like P'li." Ming Hua commented.

"They're afraid of her." Xai bau commanded as he looked at the scene in front of him. It was interrupted however, when an older woman approached the Major.

"Excuse me? What are you doing?" She asked angrily.

"She was breaking the rules and needs to be taught a lesson." The Major answered.

"The rules is she can't leave the house and only open the door for food." The woman challenged. "She's keeping to your rules, no matter how cruel. So how about you at least leave her be?" The Major was silent for a moment, before he grumbled and let the arm go. _"Good."_ With that, the woman entered the home. The Major simply glared at her.

"That's one way to solve the problem." Zaheer said with a smile on his face as he watched the woman close and lock the door behind her. The Major looked at the door for a moment before he walked away.

"That was odd." Tziza said as she looked after the woman as she disappeared into the house with the locked woman.

"So what do we do now?" Ghazan asked as the group decided to have some ice cream to lighten their spirits a bit.

"How long do you suppose it will take for Lord Zuko to come here?" Allerys asked as she licked her mocha flavored ice cream.

"A few hours, I guess. If he takes fang along." Femke replied as she carefully ate her Mint ice cream.

"We should try and make up a good excuse to get back in and smuggle some things along." Xai Bau brought up. "She needs those." He said firmly as he looked at the house as Femke looked at her ice cream sadly, suddenly feeling immense regret. They could sit here and enjoy the sun, enjoy a beautiful day, while she had to be locked inside that house.

"I'm sorry guys, but I lost my appetite." Femke said as she looked at one of the little kids that had heard her and now looked at her ice cream with a longing look in her eyes. Femke looked at him for a moment, before she dumped the ice cream in the trash can. The kid looked at her, stumped.

"Why'd you do that?" He asked.

"I can't feel good about enjoying an Ice cream, Knowing that a poor, innocent woman is stuck in that house."

"If she can't enjoy a nice ice cream today, I won't be able to swallow another bite as well." Zaheer said as he threw away his own ice cream as well, after which the others soon followed the example. The kid just nodded, before moving on.

 _ **"**_ _ **Be sure to tell your friends!"**_ Zaheer called after him.

 _"We need a plan. We need to get in that house again."_ Ilene whispered with a stern look.

"We can't use force to get in now. Remember, we promised Zuko to not use violence." Femke reminded her friend with a stern look.

"I know, but we also promised to help that poor woman." Ilene said.

"But I don't think he would want us to use violence to get it done." Femke said, looking to the side in an annoyed way as another young woman walked to the group with a sad look on her face.

 _"Everyone, don't look up."_ Zaheer whispered as they noticed a villaged approaching. Everyone did so, not wanting to talk to one of the villagers that did nothing to help the poor woman.

"Are you the ones that put down the bag of fresh food the other day?" The woman asked, which made Femke turn and look at her.. It was the woman from before, who stood up to the Major and helped the woman in the house.

"Yeah, why?" Femke answered as she gave her friends some hand signals to tell them that it was alright.

"Follow me." The young woman said as she motioned them. They did, acting inconspicuously while they followed her into her house and up to a attic room that was arranged like a small living room, that looked very cozy, even with the curtains closed.

"Alright, what do you want from us?" Zaheer asked with a tone of suspicion in his voice while Femke took of her jacket and put it around her waist before she started to look around. She was trusting the situation, her instincts were telling her they had nothing to fear.

"I'm going to show you something." The blonde said as she put a hand on the wall that was connected to the house of the locked woman.

"What?" Noatak asked with a confused look as the blonde woman opened a secret hatch which she had hidden behind a bookshelf and went through it.

"It's okay, I brought some friends along that would like to see you again." She told someone. And when she re-appeared they saw the Combustion Woman from next door was hugging her, shivering with fear as she clutched to the dress of her neighbor, scared.

"She looks so frail." Allerys noted as she crouched down near the woman and placed a hand on the bandana on her forehead, which was loosened, revealing her third eye tattoo.

"She is. Her name is Atterita." The blonde woman said as she gave Atterita a soft, motherly look, holding the woman in her arms as she spoke.

"Atteritta. Not a common name around here." Tarrlok remarked as he sat down.

"I know. I have known her parents quite well. She lived next door to me ever since I was a child. It was a name they had once read in a book about an ancient spirit with wings named Atterita."

"Spirits with wings? Now that's familiar." Ghazan commented with a smirk. "Sounds like a fairy to me."

"Fairy?" The blonde asked as she looked up at them with shock.

"Just like the stories." Ghazan smirked.

"Those fairytales aren't made up. They're part of history. However long forgotten." Femke explained with a small smile as Atteritta slowly opened her eyes, looking around curiously.

"That is amazing. I just wished Atteritta's parents had been able to hear that. They would have loved it. Did you know her parents were combustion benders as well? Just like her grandparents. Her lineage goes back to the original Combustion Bender." This made everyone gasp.

 _"Lanniban."_ P'li gasped as she looked at the woman with widened eyes _"That means we're..."_

 _"Family."_ Xai Bau gasped.

 _ **"Excuse me?"**_ The blonde woman asked as she looked up at P'li.

"Lee Chang is my father and he is also the grandson of Combustion Man." P'li explained.

"I remember him. He was locked in this house together with his parents and Atteritta, until one day, when they resisted their imprisonment." The woman started.

"Understandable, seeing how their daughter lives." Ghazan commented.

"What happened when they tried to escape?" Femke asked after a small. She knew there was no way around figuring out the fate of the parents of Atteritta and if the blonde woman didn't tell she was bound to get nightmares about it. she knew that.

"They tried to force their way out of the house, using their combustion bending to do so. Atteritta was five years old when it happened. She was on her mother's arm, her older brother ran out before them. Atteritta's father managed to get their son out of the house and out of sight into the forest, telling him to flee and never return but Attiritta's parents were killed for the attempt."

The blonde woman told them, smiling a little when Femke kneeled down by her side, thankful for the kindness of these people.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

"How horrible. Has she lived all on her own ever since?" I managed to ask after hearing that horrible story. That poor woman had never been free. Had no idea what it was like to live like a normal person.

"Until her eighteenth birthday she had to stay locked in our house so my parents could look after her. At first they were horrified of her just as much as the rest of the village but over time, and with my help, they started to get attached to her." The blonde woman said as she stroke Atteritta over her cheek with a tender smile on her face. Atteritta nodded, beaming when the blonde's parents were mentioned.

"They made this house feel like a home, instead of a prison. They gave me food, bathed me, hugged me. Loved me." Atteritta said and with every word she said she became sadder and sadder.

"They made the secret hatch to get to Attiritta after she had to leave our house. It broke their hearts to see her go." The blonde woman said with a sad look in her eyes.

"We have always been like sisters. I was the one that proved my parents that she was just a small little girl and not a monster. After that I've always stayed there to help her when she needed me." The blonde continued to tell.

"How did you manage that? Most parents don't listen to their children." Zaheer asked since his parents never listened to him.

"Indeed." Noatak commented as Tarrlok nodded.

"By playing with her even when they forbade it. By caring for her. Staying by her side when she was ill." The blonde said before she pulled a picture out of her pocket which showed a much younger version of her together with Attiritta, who looked ill, a loving smile on her face as she slept.

"Too bad you didn't manage to free her." Zaheer said. He was right, if they had managed to free her, she would have been truly happy.

"I know. They tried after they realized how the poor child was treated but they never managed." The woman firmly said, trying to protect her parents.

"We understand. Different subject; you never told us your name." Zaheer asked.

"My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Aleia but my friends call me Ali."

Aleia smiled as she held out her hand for us to shake. Which I did with a smile on my own face.

"That's a nice name." Xai Bau commented.

"Glad to meet you, we haven't introduced ourselves either, my name is..." I started. but stopped when aleia held up her hand.

"I know who you are. I read all about you in the newspapers. You're my heroes." Aleia said with a smile as she showed me an old newspaper with a picture of me holding Noatak and Tarrlok around their waists, happily smiling, believing the hell was all over now and we could be a family at last.

"There is also the remainder of my friends." I smiled as I introduced the rest of the group.

"Glad to meet you all." Aleia smiled.

"Why am I your hero?." I stammered with a blush on my face. I never saw myself as a hero.

"Because of what you did with your powers, trying to help people like Amon, Tarrlok and the Red Lotus. That's what heroes do. Trying to see the good in people no matter what." Aleia said as she smiled at me kindly. I took my coat and wrapped it around Atteritta's shoulders.

 _ **Aleia's POV**_

"Because of what you did with your powers, trying to help people like Amon, Tarrlok and the Red Lotus. That's what heroes do. Trying to see the good in people no matter what." I said after introduced myself.

 _Like how I am towards Attiritta. How I've always been towards her. Long before my parents understood_

I thought as I remembered something. The first day Atteritta had been in our home.

 _ **Songpan**_

 _ **38 years earlier**_

 _It had been a day since Atterita's parents had been hanged for trying to escape. That same evening Atterita had been locked back in the house. However, the people of the village knew she was too young to stay on her own. Even they didn't want to be responsible for the death of a child. My parents were asked to take Atterita to keep a eye on her until she was old enough to live on her own. I was five years old back then, unable to understand any of these matters. All I knew was that a new girl was coming to live with me._

 _"Here she is Mister and Miss Zhan Ti."_

 _The police officer said as they pushed a sobbing and scared looking five year old towards my parents. I just smiled as I walked towards her, holding out my hand._

 _"I'm Aleia. Welcome to your new home." I asked her. I saw the girl had a strange tattoo on her forehead as she looked around nervously._

 _"What's your name?" I asked now as I held out my hand to her. She whimpered as she looked at me with big, scared eyes._

 _"I think she's a bit shy." I said with a smile on my face._

 _"Or she has never been taught manners." My mother told me before she took Atterita up towards the bathroom were she let the tub fill up with hot water and soap. I walked to my toy chest and got my bath toys and before my mother could object I had put them in the bath with the Atterita._

 _"There you go, you can play with my toys." I smiled at her as my mother washed the girl, who tried to get out of the water, looking at the toys curiously._

 _"Can I also get in the tub?" I asked my mother. I wanted to play with my new sister. I wanted to explain that taking a bath wasn't something to be afraid off. She seemed to be afraid of taking a bath, that wasn't right. She should have fun while bathing, just like anyone else._

 _"No. She's far too dangerous." My mother said. I shook my head._

 _"She doesn't look dangerous." I said as I joined her in the tub. My mother just sighed and let me. "Let's play." I said as I took my toys. "Here comes Captain Ducky!" I chirped. Atterita looked at me uneasy, unable to understand why I wanted to play with her. "Have you never played in a bath?" I asked her as I made the boat float around us in the water. Atterita shook her head, looking down sadly._

 _"No. We don't have one. Only real people have. Not Monsters like us." Atterita softly said. This was the first time I heard her speak. I was shocked she talked about herself like that._

 _"You're not a monster. You're a girl. Like me." I said with a smile on my face. I couldn't comprehend that she saw herself as a monster._

 _"No I'm not. I'm evil." Atterita said as she looked at my mother. I simply pulled her into a hug._

 _"You're my sister now. I will be there if you need me."_

 _I told her with a smile. Atterita started to cry, placing her head in my chest._

 _"It's okay. I will help you. Whatever happens." I told her. I felt her calm down._

 _"Thank you. My name is… Atterita." She said as she looked at me with a smile on her face. Her eyes were gleaming orange as she spoke out her name._

"It's nothing really but I'm glad to help her if she needs me."

Femke answered. This snapped me out of my thoughts and made me look at her before I looked down at Atterita with a gentle smile, remembering that very first day she had been with me and despite her fear of me, I managed to reach her. Which was the very first step into getting Atterita out of this misery someday.

"That's what a true hero does. Help the people in need. Whatever it takes." I said with a smile on my face. A true hero would do whatever it takes to serve the need of the people, regardless of what would happen to them. Just like what Femke and her friends did for Atterita now.

"You're a hero as well. You're risking everything to save Atterita, even your own freedom." Femke smiled kindly.

"It must be hard to stay cooped up in this town for your entire life." Xai Bau noted.

"That might be but seeing Atterita's life be a little more bearable because I'm around makes it worth it." Aleia smiled as she looked down at Atterita.

"You must feel horrible." Femke smiled as She reached towards Atteritta but she flinched away. Poor woman, she had been through so much she doesn't trust anyone anymore except me

 _That must have taken a lot of time_

I thought as I got closer to her.

"Hello." I smiled as I calmly sat down a little closer to her. "I want to help you."

"I don't believe you." Atteritta said.

"Well, we mean it." Ghazan tried.

"We really do." I tried as I managed to edge closer to her.

"That's already more than we can ask for." Aleia said.

"But what are we going to do now?" Xai bau asked as he looked around, hoping someone knew something.

"She needs to get out." P'li said as she looked around firmly.

"Hopefully the plan doesn't involve much walking." Zaheer brought up, softly patting his legs as he said this.

"Can't you let your earthly tethers go temporarily?" Ghazan asked, which made me look at him with shock. That would mean he would have to detach himself from me.

"No. That only worked because I thought the woman I loved was dead" Zaheer replied, smiling at me. "I'm not going through that Hell twice."

"I don't think it's something you can fake, either." I replied smiling from him to P'li as, which made her smile in return.

"Can we tunnel under the city until we're in the forest?" Tziza tried.

"Tunneling worked for us before." Tarrlok smiled at me, which made Noatak look at him surprised.

"So that's how you two were at the rally in time." He said.

"Yeah, we fixed the roof afterwards so Tenzin wouldn't notice." I smiled.

"Where should we start to tunnel?" Ghazan asked, ready to earthbend.

"How far can we actually leave the house with Atterita without getting noticed?" Xai bau asked as he got up.

"Her parents made it to the edge of the forest but I don't think we'll be that lucky." Aleia replied after thinking for a moment.

"We should start in the backyard and tunnel towards the forest. That will make it harder for them to track us." Ilena said with a stern face.

"We're Wood Village trained, this will be easy." Dizanna smirked.

"We can't do this on our own." I remarked.

"Especially if someone calls the guards." Zaheer agreed.

"Good think you have royalty by your side." A familiar voice called, which made me look up, smiling when I saw him standing in the doorway while both Aleia and Atterita looked at the old man gasping, Aleia beaming while Atterita hid her face.

"Good to see you finally arrive, Lord zuko."

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And with that I end the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading and let us not forget to thank paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as beta reader and advisor.

 _ **Please leave a review!**_


	34. Chapter 34: the plan

Chapter 34: The plan

 _ **Normal POV**_

 _"Lord Zuko."_ Aleia whispered as she looked at the former Firelord with widen eyes as Atterita hid her face in her chest.

"And who might you be?" Lord Zuko asked as he looked at Aleia with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Aleia, she's a friend of the so called _'Monster'_." Femke explained, making quote signs with her fingers as she said the last thing.

"She really isn't." Aleia smiled, moving her arms to the sides a little so Zuko could see a frail, scared and scarred young woman, trembling with fear at the sight of the Fire Lord, who just smiled at her.

"Greetings." Lord Zuko smiled as he sat down, causing Atterita to flinch away. "Don't worry; I mean you no harm."

"She'll come around." Aleia smiled as she looked at the former Fire Lord. "She just needs time."

"Back to the task at hand; won't it get noticed if we go and make a giant tunnel in the garden?" Ming Hua said.

"Unless we use the cover of dark to tunnel and cover it up when we're not bussy." Femke smirked, which made everyone look at her.

"You're getting good with these kind of things." Ilena complemented with a smile.

"I learned from the best." Femke smiled, blushing because both Zuko and Zaheer looked at her.

"Which used to concern me." Zuko smiled.

 _ **"Hey!"**_ Femke replied as she gave zuko a small shove, which made him chuckle. "I also meant **_you_**."

"Still the bold one." He smirked.

"I should head home." Atterita stammered, surprising everyone, looking around with unease as she got up. "I will be missed if any guards show up."

"Will you be okay?" Aleia asked with a worried look as she got up as well and placed a hand on her cheek, pulling her in a hug.

"I've had some rest and food. I'll be okay." Atterita assured her friend with a smile. "We can't have anyone learning about the hatch."

"Don't worry, it won't be for long." Femke assured her, looking at Atterita with determination. "We're going to get you out of there no matter what." Atterita nodded, smiling a little before she walked over to Femke for a hug before she quickly ran up the stairs, through the hatch and to her home.

"Why can't Zuko just tell the mayor to treat Atterita better?" Ghazan brought up. "He's royalty. His word goes."

"I already tried that. He wouldn't listen to me." Zuko said.

"Your the Fire Lord."

"I tried to overrule him, but he threatened force and I don't want to turn this into a riot." Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"So how many of us are going to dig?" Ghazan asked, cracking his knuckles, ready for the task at hand.

"We should dig three on three." Femke replied after thinking for a moment. "Three of us go to sleep and three of us get to work. We each dig for five hours then the other group takes over until dawn."

"What if people see us?" Zaheer asked, which made Femke smile at him.

"We just say we're doing construction work, nothing too colorful. Just make sure everyone's on the same page when they ask and we should be fine." Femke said with a thoughtful look, at which everyone nodded. "And if all else fails, we just say we're doing it because Lord Zuko told us to."

"Who is going to start with me?" Ilene asked as she raised her hand.

"I'll go along." Dizanna said as she raised her hand, Selvia raised her hand after that, just nodding.

"In five hours Ghazan, Tarrlok and I will take over until dawn" Femke nodded firmly.

"What can we do in the meantime" Xai Bau asked after Femke was done.

"Make sure Atterita isn't getting hurt." Femke replied with a stern look.

"That can be very easily settled." Lord Zuko replied with a smirk on his face. "I just have the White Lotus guard it."

"Won't that just make things more suspicious and dangerous for her?" Ming Hua asked with a stern look.

"I doubt they will treat her even worse." Lord Zuko said.

"I really wish we could just tell them to stop being awful to her." Ming Hua sharply said.

"We could just show her to the people and hope they realize she's human like them." Femke said as she placed a hand on her chin in a pondering way.

"But…?" Noatak started, looking at Femke, knowing there was a _'but'_ there.

"But they might just not care." Femke said, after which she shook her head. "We best just get her out and safe before working on her reputation."

"In the meantime I'll see if I can talk with the mayor again." Zuko said. "The tunnel should be our emergency exit. Not our first plan."

"Good, I think we covered everything." Ilene said as she got up together with Dizanna and Selvia. "We better get to work."

"The rest of us should sleep." Femke said.

"I'll set up a guest room." Aleia smiled before she headed upstairs. Meanwhile, the Red Lotus team acted like they were just looking around in the garden as they looked for a good spot to start their tunnel.

 _"We need a spot that is out of view. Even with our alibi, it's better to do it in secret."_ Femke whispered as she pretended to look at some Fire Lilies that grew in the backyard.

 _"We also need to make sure the soil isn't too soft. We can't have it collapse."_ Zaheer whispered as he sat down next to me and looked at the Lillies as well. "A Fire Lily. Those mostly grow in Fire Nation colonies."

"Hama once taught Katara plants could be used to extract water by using these Lillies as an example." Femke smirked as she remembered Katara told her how hama had taught her this while she and her daughter had been with Aang trying to figure out who had attacked those villagers.

"Clever." Zaheer smirked as he got a little closer to smell them, picking one and putting it in her hair.

 _"Heer."_ Femke whispered as she got a little red in the face.

"You're prettier than any flower." He smiled, which made Femke smile before the two of them shared a small kiss.

"Once you two are done, we found a spot that looks promising." Ming Hua whispered as she gave the two of them a firm look, at which Femke nodded and got up, gently helping her boyfriend onto his feet again before they followed Ming to a dark corner in the garden were the shed and the fence made it impossible to see what was going on in the garden from both houses next to it.

"This place is perfect." Femke smirked as she and Ilene removed some of the trash that stood in a corner before Femke stomped her foot firmly on the ground. "Hard soil. No chances of collapse. We could be in the woods in a day or two."

"Faster if we would all pitch in." Ming Hua remarked.

"If we all get to work it might be noticed. Alibi or not, we don't want that." Femke remarked as she made an opening after which Ilena, Dizanna and Selvia headed in.

"Femke is right. We need to avoid suspicion." Xai Bau nodded, smiling as watched the girls disappear from sight.

"Which is going to be difficult." Noatak agreed while P'li just stared at the house Atterita was in right now. All alone and miserable. They had to take action and fast.

"We have to try. For **_her_** sake." P'li said firmly.

"We won't give up on her." Femke said firmly. "We have to keep up trying or she will be lost."

"Femke is right. We still need to be careful. We don't want to anger the mayor." Zuko said as he walked towards the group with Aleina behind him.

"From the little interaction I had with him I've gotten the impression he could be working with this Lord Darkar you told me about."

 _"Darkar."_ Femke whispered as she looked from Zuko to Zaheer with shock. "That can't be good."

"Darkar will do anything to stop us from gaining power. We've seen it in Shao Quon." Zaheer said.

"He failed there because we outsmarted him. But he will be more than eager to use whatever power he has to try and stop us." Zaheer nodded.

"Why do you think he works with Darkar?" Allerys asked.

"I shortly spoke with him when I arrived and he doesn't like taking orders from me." Zuko brought up with a pondering look. "He acted like he was above me."

"Disrespecting authority makes you evil?" Allerys asked a bit insulted.

"No, but I could feel he was hiding something. Something evil." Zuko remarked.

"Maybe he's working for Darkar." Femke realized with widened eyes.

"Femke is right." Zuko said as Aleia walked into the garden. "Atterita shouldn't be left on her own devices. That would be wrong, but this Darkar is dangerous."

"Can't you just order the mayor to let Atterita go?" Ghazan asked, leaning against the garden shed. "You are the Fire Lord after all."

"I tried but he won't listen to me." Zuko replied. "He even threatened to kick me out."

 _"So much for_ _ **that**_ _idea."_ Ming Hua grumbled.

"Can he do that?" Xai Bau wondered aloud now.

"He's right. He should have obeyed you." Tziza commented.

"He should. But it looks like Darkar is interfering." Zuko replied, giving Femke a stern look as he said this.

"Darkar." Femke whispered as she looked down. "We're in more danger then we thought."

"Darkar will stop at nothing to get our powers." Zaheer said. "He already proved that at Fu-Jet."

"What happened?" Zuko asked.

"We faced Darkar along with a man named Mogui who… well… " Femke looked at P'li a little unsure.

"Were Mogui kept me as a slave for nine years until Zaheer freed me by killing him." P'li finished as Femke nodded in thanks.

"I figured murder was your first impulse." Zuko said as he shot Zaheer a firm glare.

"It was the only option we had." Zaheer said with a guilty look. "He would have never let P'li go otherwise."

"In any case." Femke interrupted with a cough. "We fought him in a sort off dream dimension, P'li got her enchantix powers, we managed to outsmart him and return home."

"That sounds like quite the adventure." Zuko nodded.

"It also proved how dangerous Darkar is with the right allies." Femke said as she looked Zuko straight in the eyes.

"We should find a way to free Atterita and get out of here as fast as we can." Zuko said, at which femke nodded and got her phone from her pocket and dialed a number.

"Femke, what are you… ?" Zaheer started, but stopped when Femke raised her hand.

"Toph, this is Femke, come to Songpan as quickly as you can. Bring the elves along as well." Femke said as soon as she noticed the phone had been picked up. "We might have to deal with Darkar."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Toph's voice said from the other side before she hung up. A flash followed and all off a sudden Toph, along with the elves stood next to them in the garden.

"What's the dealio?" Floxy called while saluting, making Femke stifle a giggle.

"Zuko had a feeling Darkar might be involved in keeping this poor woman imprisoned." Femke said, looking sadly at the barricaded house from where she could see red eyes flash behind the window for a second. "I wanted everyone here in case we need to fight our way out."

"Hopefully we don't have to. My legs aren't fully healed." Zaheer replied.

"I hope we don't have to but we might have no choice." Femke said with a sad look, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend before bending in to give him a kiss. "Darkar will stop at nothing too get our powers."

"I still find it hard to believe what lengths he goes through." Zaheer growled as he balled his fist.

"I know it sounds hard to believe but." Femke's voice changed to a softer tone as her medallion started to glow. _"Darkar_ _ **does**_ _possess a heart."_

 _"Feria?"_ Zaheer realised, quickly taking a step back when he saw his girlfriend's past life had taken over.

 _"But how? She is not the Avatar."_ Zuko whispered in disbelief.

 _"Femke is not but she and I are connected through the medallion she wears."_ Feria said with a small smile. _"I have been with her ever since she got it and seen and guided all her actions."_

"Even when she joined the Red Lotus and became an accomplice in _**murder**_?" Zuko asked.

 _"I never intended to make her into an accomplice but I did intend for her to join the Red Lotus."_ Feria smiled. _"For her destiny was tied to theirs."_

"Feria, we might have a problem on our hands. These people have a woman locked in that house and we think Darkar might be involved." Zaheer said, pointing to the house as Feria looked at it sadly.

 _"Another innocent soul fell victim to Darkar's lust for power."_ Feria replied before she looked down. " _We_ _ **have**_ _to stop him."_

"How are we going to beat Darkar without getting killed ourselves?" Xai Bau asked.

"He seems to be one step ahead of us the entire time." P'li commented as she looked back at the house with a sad look.

"He is kind off a handful." Ghazan agreed, which made Ming Hua look at him firmly.

"And you made matters worse by angering her. Now she doesn't even believe we really want to help her." Ming Hua snapped, looking at Feria sadly as she said the last part.

 _"You will find a way to speak to her again. Her heart might be closed for now but it isn't locked."_ Feria said as she looked sternly at Ghazan. _"But what you did was unneeded."_

"How could I know she'd react like that?" Ghazan shrugged.

 _"You hurt her, that is not the Voortrix way."_ Feria reprimanded him with a stern look. _"You need her, she still has a role to play."_

"You mean freeing her won't be the end?" Xai Bau asked smiling.

 _"Who knows? Fate will reveal in due time, Master Xai Bau."_ Feria smiled.

"One last thing; if we manage to convince Atterita to come with us… The Mayor will probably hurt us if we tried to free her." Zaheer brought up.

 _"You need to gain a new power, drawn from the belief of others."_ Feria replied with a solemn voice. _"Open your hearts, Voortrix. That will be the key to unlock the power hidden inside."_ Feria said right before vanished, causing femke to Faint. Zaheer moved in as fast as he could to grab her.

"Nice catch." Ghazan said while Lord Zuko looked at Zaheer with a raised eyebrow.

"How long have your legs been like that?" Zuko asked as he looked from zaheer to his legs on which Femke rested.

"A few months. I had an infection. Leftover of my jail time." Zaheer answered with a shrug while he started to rub Femke over her cheeck to make help her regain consciousness "And it's my own fault. I know that. I shouldn't have done what I have done."

"I know about the infection. Femke wrote me about it. How long has it been now?" Zuko asked as he looked at Femke worriedly.

"A few months. According to Najira the nurse my legs just need to recover by now." Zaheer answered, smiling when he saw Femke was regaining her consciousness a little.

"It doesn't seem to bother you." Zuko remarked calmly.

"I know now it is my own fault. Besides, nothing I can really do about it." Zaheer shrugged.

"That wasn't how you felt at the start." Ghazan smirked.

"After fifteen years of prison and even more after that, I can imagine how he feels that he can't walk properly." Xai Bau remarked, at which Tziza nodded.

"Sometimes life gives you lemons." Tziza commented dryly.

"Wasn't all bad. Ming had time to catch up with her mom she just found, we managed to go home and see out families again after a long time." Ghazan said. "Good stuff."

"I heard that was quite the adventure." Zuko nodded smiling when he saw Femke was groaning as a sign she was waking up and sitting up with a dazed look.

"What happened?" Femke asked, seeing everyone look at her with worry.

"Feria took over and told us we needed to gain a new power. Found by the belief of others." Zaheer repeated what Feria had just told him, which made Femke look down.

"Believix. But we don't have a Fairy Book. I know how to gain the form but I never managed to study it beyond that." Femke said.

"Can't we get one?" Ghazan asked.

"We don't have the time." Femke said, deep in thought. "We need to save Atterita now."

"Well, wouldn't new powers help?" Noatak wondered.

"We'd probably have a better shot at defeating Darkar." P'li agreed.

"Where could something like that be hidden?" Ghazan asked.

"Not anywhere… " Femke said, before her eyes widened. "I remember Daniel once told me there might be a one hidden in ruins of Voorfield."

"And where is that?" Ghazan asked.

"The Magix dimension." Ming Hua replied.

"Yeah but I feel uneasy about leaving the village behind." Femke remarked, looking back at the house of the locked woman sadly.

"I think she'll manage." Zuko nodded. "She has survived until now so she"ll be fine until you get back."

"We'll stay here to make sure nothing happens." Ilene said as she popped her head from out of the tunnel. "And we'll call if something comes up"

"We'll also keep up digging." Dizanna smiled as she popped her head out as well. "So it will be ready when we need to get out." She smirked, after which Selvia popped her head out briefly to nod before she popped back in to get back to work.

"Thanks girls, you're the best." Femke smiled before she turned to look at the rest of her friends. "Well gang, seems we're going to Voorfield next."

Femke smirked at which the group nodded, ready to do whatever it took to get the book and learn about a new Fairy Form they needed to save Atterita.

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And with that I declare this chapter _**DONE.**_ I hope you all enjoyed it!

Don't forget to leave a review and thank Femke and Paranoidgirl for their hard work.


	35. Chapter 35: the voortrix calling

Chapter 35: The Voortrix' calling

 _ **Normal POV**_

A bright flash appeared out of nowhere on the planet Armador, were Voorfield was located and all Voortrix members stood at the outskirts.

"Welcome to Voorfield, everyone." Femke smiled as she looked around while the others looked at the remains of the village in awe.

"What a mess." Ghazan said.

"Darkar knew what he was doing, I have to hand that to him." Ming Hua commented as she looked at the old ruins.

"Hard to believe this was once a village full of people." Xai Bau said as he looked at the ruins, trying to imagine what it must have been like when people lived here.

"Yeah… A lot of them." Femke replied as she looked around as well.

"Any Combustion Benders?" P'li asked.

"I don't know for sure. The first time I saw Laniban I didn't recognize the tattoo." Femke replied while earthbending a few rocks to look under them.

"Should you have? Most people don't actually know things from their past lives, right?" Zaheer asked, using a gust of wind to blow away some scrap metal, backing off quickly when the pile collapsed.

"I know but sometimes I get a feeling. A sensation. Like I should remember something." Femke explained while jumping from rock to rock. "Like the thing I see is familiar but I don't remember from where."

"Did that happen when you first met your friends?" Allerys asked.

"Yeah. It's some sort of mental trigger. When I first looked at them I felt like I had always known them." Femke looked in front of her with a dreamy look as she said this. This was interrupted by Toph blasting away the rock Femke was on, causing her to fall.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

"Enough of the babbling. We have a book to find and a girl to save?" Toph called, blasting the rock out from under me as I fell down. "Let's split up and get going. The sooner we find that book, the better."

"Good idea, but keep each other in sight. There might be monsters or even traps." I replied as I remembered the last time I was here. I almost walked into a trap myself if it wasn't for Daniel.

Daniel. His name still stung. I still felt deeply connected to him. The pain had lessened over the years, though. I married Grovyle, had Christie and Darkrai, lost Grovyle and fell in love again with Zaheer.

 _'_ _Daniel died for the greater good. He died trying to protect you'_

Feria called in my head as she appeared next to me, smiling.

"I know but that doesn't mean I don't miss him." I said as I smiled at my past life.

 _'_ _It wasn't your time to reveal yourself yet. This was for the best.'_

Feria said as she looked at me sternly but I saw the hurt in her eyes.

 _"And Dylan? Why did he have to leave?"_ I asked a little firmer. Dylan's death hurt even worse. He was so young.

 _'_ _He died because of the powers of Evil that are growing around us.'_

Feria said as I watched the others look around the ruins for the book.

 _'_ _I know it hurts, but it was also for the best.'_

Feria smiled as she looked at me with her one good eye.

 _ **"Excuse me?**_ _How can the Death of my son be for the best?"_ I asked firmly, shocked she would say such a thing.

 _'_ _It gave you the resolve to become a true Voortrix and save everyone'_

Feria smiled as she tapped me on the forehead after a vague image of me and Zaheer standing by the portal his eyes beaming as he looked at me.

 _Is this all really worth the Death of a_ _ **child**_ _?_

I thought as I looked up at Feria but she had already disappeared.

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

After a lot of searching Voorfield for the book, we all decided it was best to split up. As I was searching my area I suddenly heard a sound.

 _ **"Who's there?"**_ I called, hoping it was Ghazan but it wasn't.

 _I must be imagining things_

I thought

 _'_ _Zedina'_

I heard it again. I quickly turned around, taking a step back when I saw a blue flame in front of me.

 _ **"Who's there?"**_ I called, shivers going down my spine when I realised there was no one else around.

 _This place might be haunted. Many people died here, after all_

I thought, shaking my head to shake off the idea.

How did this work in Femke's realm, anyway? I was wondering whether or not I should see Femke to find out if she knew her world had a Spirit Realm as well, when all off a sudden…

 _'_ _Zedina'_

This time it was really close. There was still nothing.

"Who's calling me? How do you know my past life's name?" I asked out loud. No reply. Just a ruffling sound. I walked to it and a small, multi-colored flame appeared in front of me.

 _''_ _Zedinia. Come find me'_

It called. I followed it, vaguely hearing Master Xai Bau call my name behind me as I followed the flame towards a large pile of rubble.

 _'_ _Reach out, Zedinia. Find me. Help me restore peace'_

The voice called. I did what it told me, stretching out my hand towards the rubble. I heard a voice call something in an unknown language. A light starter to glow brightly and when it cleared I held the same medallion in my hand as Femke had. Mine was silver and had the air symbol in the middle instead of the fire symbol like Femke's.

 _ **Of course!**_ _Zedinia is my past life! That means this medallion was mine back when…_

I started but stopped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. As I looked I saw master Xai Bau.

"Are you okay?" Master Xai bau asked as he looked at me worriedly. "You were walking towards that pile of junk like you were in a trance. You got me worried."

"No need to." I replied with a smile as I showed the medallion to him. "Zedinia just wanted me to have my… _**our**_ old medallion back."

"Your medallion?" Xai Bau asked as he looked at me with widened eyes.

"It was mine back when I was Zedinia." I smiled as I looked at the medallion in my hand. "It must have been preserved in the ruins and now it found its way back to me."

"it is rather amazing what magic can do." Xai Bau smiled.

"It's sort of strange. I didn't see myself like this three years ago." I said, looking at my medallion.

"We all came a long way." Xai Bau said as he looked at me with a small smile. "None of us had thought any of this would ever happen until that one fateful day when you took Femke from Zhaofu."

"Fate works in a mysterious way." I nodded in agreement.

"Unless we find that book Atteritta's fate will be **_sealed_**." Tziza, who had joined us, snapped as I look at her and nodded. Just as I wanted to reply I saw Ghazan walk by us looking like he was in a trance as well.

 _ **"Ghazan! Do you hear me?"**_ I called as I got up on my crutches and walked to him as far as I could. No reply came as he walked by towards a pile of rubble in a far corner of the village.

"He can't hear you, just like you." Xai Bau said, plucking his beard in a pondering way as he spoke. "But Ghazan has no past life. I wonder what he's hearing."

"That might be a good thing." I replied, looking from Ghazan slowly waking up to Master Xai Bau. "Those medallions fuse the past and the present together. Femke told me they showed her images of how Voorfield used to look before it was destroyed."

"Alright, good." Tziza commented with a nod before she turned to Ghazan, who was awake again. "Are you alright?"

"Some voice called me and told me that it was time to fulfill my real destiny and when I woke up I had this medallion in my hand." Ghazan explained, which got me smirking. He had a medallion as well. He was a real Voortrix.

"That's a Voortrix medallion, it fuses your past and present lives together and it's also proof you're Voortrix." I explained, remembering Femke had told me only the main eight Voortrix of before had worn the Voortrix medallions.

"Nice." Ghazan grinned.

"Let's search for that book. Or did we already forget Atteritta depends on us?" Tziza said.

"I didn't forgot. Let's move on." I nodded firmly, determined to find that book and help to save Atteritta before it was too late.

"Alright." Ghazan said before we each went our own way in search of the book.

 _ **Noatak's POV**_

 _ **"Found anything?"**_ I called after a while of searching with Tarrlok and Allerys.

 _ **"Cauldrons and what looks like remains but nothing big."**_ Tarrlok called back.

 _ **"Some of it is really old.**_ " Allerys called.

 ** _"Stay focused."_** I called back as I airbent some junk out of the way. As I did this, I remembered something.

 _P'li and I were in the middle of a sparring match I wasn't doing well despite water having an advantage over fire. P'li had proven to be a great opponent but I wasn't ready to give up._

 _"Neither of them are going to give up." I could hear Allerys comment from the sidelines._

 _"That's my brother for you. Extremely stubborn." Tarrlok said.._

 _"It's impressive he manages to keep up with P'li." Xai Bau nodded with a smile as I dodged a lot of P'li's blows, waiting for my chance to strike but as I was dodging I suddenly fell a soft breeze around my feet._

 _"What the…?" I heard Tarrlok start behind me as his eyes grew wide with realisation._

 _"Air?" Allerys said, before she started to cheer. "Noatak, you're airbending!" I looked down with a smile on my face, then up at P'li, hoping I wasn't blushing._

 _"Now we all have two elements." I grinned as I tried to make an air blast hit P'li in the same motion Korra had used on me. Nothing happened. Why did nothing happen?_

 _"You still need to learn to control it." P'li smiled as she approached me and I backed off. "You'll learn in time."_

 _"We all had to learn." Tarrlok smiled._

 _"Then why did Korra beat me the moment she got it?" I asked._

 _"She studied the element before just like Zaheer did." Ming Hua remarked sharply._

 _"You have some rotten luck." Tarrlok said as he gave his older brother a soft pat on the back._

 _ **"Noatak!"**_

I snapped my head up as tarrlok called my name, I had been so lost in thought I didn't even notice him.

"I'm fine. I just got lost in thought for a moment." I answered absentmindedly before I shook my head. Now was not the time to remember the past.

 _'_ _Norato'_

I looked up when I heard a strange voice call me that. That was the name of my past life.

"Did you hear that?" I asked my friends with a shocked look.

"What should we have heard?" Allerys asked with a shocked look.

"Someone called me by my old name." I said, looking at the direction the voice came from. Nothing.

"Could have been your mind playing tricks on you." Allerys shrugged.

"Or not. Remember; Femke said Voorfield is the town of our past lives. Maybe someone is trying to reach you." Tarrlok said, before he and Allerys walked away.

 _There's probably nothing to fear_

I thought as I airbended myself on a large pile of debris.

We're part of them hey wouldn't attack us. Right?

 _'_ _Norato'_

A voice called from behind me which made me turn around. My bloodbending didn't pick up anyone. Anyone alive, anyway.

 _ **"Who is calling me?"**_ I called, trying to sound more secure then I really was..

 _'_ _Norato'_

 _'_ _Come to me'_

 _'_ _I am here'_

The voice called as I walked towards it, looking back to where my brother and Allerys had disappeared to before following the voice.

"Who are you?" I asked, getting a little annoyed with how vague the voice was.

 _'_ _All will be revealed in time'_

The voice replied, which made me roll my eyes.

"Where are you leading me to?" I asked, hoping I would get that answer.

 _'_ _Your past. Voorfield is nothing more then a ruin. But from the ashes, a new Voorfield can rise'_

The voice said, showing me an image of my younger self, sitting in a small cave on the North, carving my alias 'Amon' on the wall while thinking up a plan to rid the world of benders for good.

 _'_ _A new generation of Voortrix can rise'_

After that I saw my first meeting with Femke, followed by the day we realized we were blood and after that, the three of us preventing as much damage to Republic City as Korra fought Unavaatu.

"This was all in your plan?" I asked with a shocked look. "Did none of our choices matter?"

 _'_ _Your actions were all your own. They eventually led you to Femke.'_

The voice said as a small multi-colored flame appeared in front of a ruin of some sort of temple.

 _'_ _Reach out'_

 _'_ _Find me'_

 _'_ _Fulfill your destiny'_

I reached for the multi-colored flame. It gave off a strange warmth before I felt something in the palm of my hand. When I opened my it, I saw I held a medallion in my hand. Just like Femke.

 _"Well, I am the fairy of firebending"_

I thought, smiling as I put the medallion around my neck. It started to glow and in a flash I saw P'li and me kiss, which made me smile. I was going to be able to tell her how I felt soon.

 _ **"Noa? Are you okay?"**_ Tarrlok called as the light cleared and I saw him and Allerys, smiling as he held a medallion in his hand as well. His bearing the Water emblem in the middle.

"I found my Voortrix medallion." I smiled as I showed them my medallion, which made Tarrlok smile. We both found ours.

"That's great but no sign of the book yet." I replied, looking down sadly. With every minute passing, Atteritta could die. We had to prevent that at any cost. I wouldn't be able to look P'li in the eye again if that happens.

"We'll find it. I'm sure of it." Tarrlok assured me as put an arm on my shoulder with a smile on his face. "We're not going to let her die."

 _"Tarrlok?"_ I whispered, seeing how serious he was about this. "You're right. We can't give up now. For her sake." I said, balling my fist as my brother and Allerys nodded before we started searching again.

 _ **P'li's POV**_

After Toph put our minds back to our task, we all went separate ways to look for the book that could help us.

 _I am not going to let Atteritta die_

I thought as I blew up a few rocks to be able to see if they were hiding something.

 _ **"Found anything yet?"**_ I shouted to Toph.

 _ **"Not yet! But I'm not giving up!"**_ She called as she stomped her feet on the ground to have a better look, shaking her head before she walked on.

 _Hang in there, Atteritta. We will find that book and we will come to rescue you_

I thought as I walked the other way, blasting rocks left and right as I went until I suddenly saw a strange light before me.

 _'_ _P'li'_

A strange soft voice called me from out of the flame. It didn't feel hot at all nor did it move when I tried to bend it.

 _'_ _Don't be afraid. I am a friend'_

A voice called from out of the flame before it started to move.

 _'_ _Follow me'_

"Who or what are you?" I asked as I ran after it, hearing someone call me in the distance.

 _'_ _I'm a friend of yours. From another time. Another world.'_

The voice replied solemnly.

 _That was clear as mud_

I thought as I followed the flame towards a small hut that had somehow survived the damage. The flame stopped in front of the door and started to grow. I flinched backwards as the flame turned in a blue shining figure, wearing a beautiful sleeveless yellow shirt and mini skirt as well as big wings that had the lightning bolt emblem on them.

"You must be Feria." I realized when I saw her clothes, which were the same as Femke's.

 _"I am. It's an honor to finally greet you in person after such a long time."_ Feria smiled at me.

"How? Femke's not here." I said, looking around for a sign of my best friend but she wasn't around. Was this a trick by Darkar?

 _"That is outside of Voorfield. Here, the place of all of our origins, different rules apply."_ Feria smiled.

"All off us? I thought only the eight original Voortrix came from Voorfield." I wondered out loud.

 _"No. All eleven of you have ancestry going back to the time of the Voortrix."_ Feria smiled " _We didn't just pick a few random kids to become new Voortrix members. We have always watched over you. All off you."_ Feria said, pointing to the small hut, which suddenly turned into the small hutt my adoptive parents had lived in. Next to it stood the old woman from the alley, looking at me sadly as I was taken to Mogui.. But after the car turned around the corner, she turned blue and transparent, then turned around and walked through a wall were Feria was standing.

 _"They took her to the monster. There was nothing I could do to save her." The figure sadly sad._

 _"Don't despair. It won't last." Feria smiled as she placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder with a soft smile on her face. "In nine years she will be saved and in time, Fate will call upon her and together with the others, we will save the world."_

 _ **"Another Voortrix is born! A boy, born in Ba Sing Se's lower ring."**_ _Another brunette called as she appeared next to Feria with a smile on her face._

 _"Then all events are set in motion. Inne, Deoxis, Selvia, these three kids will play a key role in saving the world one day. They will be the ones to guide our reincarnations and show them that not everything is as it seems." Feria smiled, the fake eye behind her hair glimmered in the light, after which the scene before us turned back to the village._

"So everything we did, everything we went through, was part of some grand plan?" I asked, looking at the place that scene before me had played out with shock.

 _"All we wanted was to bring you to the Red Lotus and to your destiny."_ Feria told me with a sad look. " _If I could go back and do that without giving you so much pain, I would. The Red Lotus taught you so much."_

"I learned to be strong. That all life is precious. Even the lives of Combustion Benders, like myself." I looked down sadly, remembering Atteritta. Out there, waiting for us to return with the book.

 _"They helped you grow from a scared little girl with no trust in anyone… "_ As she said this, images appeared of my first few days at the Red Lotus headquarters. " _To a brave, selfless young woman that will always put the needs of others before her own."_

Feria smiled as the image changed to the day before we went to Laghima's Peak when femke and I hugged, then shifted to the dream world when I was willing to lay down my own life to save Femke's.

 _"You have become a true Voortrix over the three years you have been with Femke and guided her as well."_ Feria smiled as she showed more flashes of memories of all five of us together.

 _We came a long way after the Red Lotus mission ended_

I thought with a smile as I walked towards the image of Femke and me in the tree, talking about Zaheer, smiling as I stretched out my hand and placed a hand on the place on Femke's image I knew her Voortrix medallion was. This made a flash of light appear.

 _ **"What?"**_ I gasped in shock as I balled my first before retrieving my hand. I felt a soft stone inside and when the light cleared and I opened my hand, I was holding the same Medallion as Femke, only mine had the Combustion Eye in the middle.

 _"That is your medallion. You're now officially a member of the Voortrix now. It connects the past and the future together."_ Feria explained, smiling as I looked at the medallion with widened eyes before I looked at her.

"Wasn't I already when I got my powers?" I asked. Femke had told me that was when I had joined.

 _"You did, this just makes it official. You now also bear proof to your title."_ Feria smiled as she placed her hand on mine. _"Destiny awaits, P'li. Be brave and keep on remembering the lessons the past taught you."_

"I will." I smiled, bowing slightly, which Feria repeated before she disappeared. There was a hand on my shoulder now. Toph.

"Who were you talking to?" She asked, scanning the area for another life form.

 _She probably can't sense ghosts_

I realized.

"I saw a ghost; the spirit of Femke's past life; Feria." I explained, hoping she wouldn't think I lost my mind.

"Mom's past life spirit? What did she want?" Toph asked.

"She wanted to give me my medallion." I said, putting a hand around the medallion on my chest with a smile on my face.

"Good! The more of us have their medallion the better!" Toph smirked as she reached under her shirt and showed that she had a medallion as well, hers having the sign of the Earth Kingdom in the middle.

 _"I wonder if the others… "_ I started but I was interrupted by Ming calling.

 ** _"I think I found something!"_**

"She might have found the book, let's go!" I smiled at Toph before we both ran towards were ming had called from. But as I wanted to walk to my friends to see what was going on, I was hit on the back of my head hard, causing everything around me to turn black.

 _ **Ming Hua's POV**_

 _"Okay, where do they keep books?"_ I muttered as I turned every stone upside down to look under it.

 _Probably in a library. So where's the library?_

I taught as I kept looking around for a sign of the book.

 _'_ _Ming Hua'_

A voice called clear as day. I quickly turned around but there was nothing there besides rubble.

 _'_ _Ming Hua'_

Again that same voice. Clearer this time. I shrugged and kept on walking, figuring it must have been my imagination.

 _'_ _Ming Hua'_

I jerked around. If I was fast I might catch a glimpse of whoever was following me but the space behind me was as empty as it had been before.

 _Either I'm being called by a spirit or I'm losing my mind_

I thought, looking around for any sign of a spirit. Nothing

 _Spirits can make themselves invisible, mom once said. Maybe that's what's happening_

I taught and as I did so, I felt a soft breeze over my cheek.

 _'_ _Ming Hua. Come to me'_

The voice called more clearly now.

"Mind telling me who I'm talking to?" I asked, not planning on just following a voice that came out of nowhere.

 _'_ _Time is of the essence. I am a friend'_

The voice said, making me roll my eyes and continue my searching. I went to a big stone that had a strange green marking on it and lifted it up, noting a strange staircase underneath it. A secret passage. That looked promising.

 _ **"I found something!"**_ I called out as I held the rock in the air. Within a matter of minutes the others stood around me, all wearing a strange necklace for some reason. No need to think about that now. We had a book to get to and a woman to save.

"Secret staircases are always a good place to start. way to go, Ming." Ghazan smirked as he patted me on the shoulder.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." P'li said firmly.

"P'li, I know you want to finish this as quickly as possible to save Atteritta but we need to stay cautious. There could be traps down there." Femke said.

"But with every moment that we stay here, Atteritta could die." P'li replied and when she turned to look at us, I saw tears in the corners of her eyes.

 _The thought of losing her aunt must be driving her crazy_

I figured. P'li hadn't had a family until a few months ago. She's willing to do whatever it took to protect them.

"I know you want to save her but we shouldn't get careless." Zaheer started but P'li gave him a firm look as he instantly went quiet.

"We will be no good to Atteritta if we're _ **dead.**_ " Femke nodded, lighting a small fire in the palm of her hand before she walked to the stairs. "I'll go first. Daniel told me what to look for when we were here last time so I will recognise traps.

"Good." P'li nodded, letting her best friend go down the stairs first to lead the way. We dodged traps along the way until we stopped in the middle of a large area with a lot of bookcases.

"Oh my." Zaheer smiled as he looked around with widened eyes at the sight. "This might be bigger than Wan Shi Tong's library."

"You've been there?" Femke asked as she walked to a few of the shelves and picked up a random book to look inside.

"What else did you think I was doing all those years in jail?" Zaheer asked as he did the same.

"Explore the Spirit Realm?" Femke smiled as she put the first book back and got another one.

"I almost visited every place in the Spirit World by the time I was sent to jail. The only place I never visited is Koh's realm." Zaheer smiled as we all looked through the many books, on the lookout for the fairy book.

"Cool, I've only visited the library once, when it was still in the physical world. maybe you've heard of that one?" Femke said as she opened a book and closing it again.

"You upset Wan Shi Tong by lying, right? That's why the library is in the Spirit World again?" Zaheer asked.

"Kinda. We did it for a good reason." Femke shrugged. "I had nightmares for weeks because of him attacking us"

"Was it that bad?" I asked as I looked up from the book I had been reading.

"Yeah. Neck stretched out, flapping his wings and that look in his eyes." I saw Femke shiver at the memory. Wuss.

"That sounds bad. I've never seen him lose his temper but I heard rumors of what he is capable of." Zaheer said as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend with a smile on his face.

"Want to see?" Femke asked.

"We have a mission, _**remember**_?" P'li said firmly. "We don't have time for this."

"I know, P'li. We're all worried for her." Femke said as she looked at her friend sadly.

 _ **"Then stop getting sidetracked."**_ P'li said with a steely voice, making Femke look at her with widened eyes, before she turned around and ran.

"That was a bit harsh." Zaheer said.

"I'm just worried about my Aunt." P'li said as she looked to the side with a too familiar hurt look in her eyes. She was worried sick.

"I know you're worried. We all do. But that doesn't mean you should lash out." Zaheer said as he walked to P'li with a sad look. P'li just looked away.

"I'm sorry for hurting your precious girlfriend's feelings." P'li spat bitterly.

"That's not the point, P'li." Zaheer replied as an uneasy silence followed.

 _ **"And that's not P'li!"**_ Femke called as she suddenly re-appeared in the doorway to the library along with another P'li. We all gasped. This just got a whole lot more complicated.

 _ **Femke's POV**_

I ran out of the library blindly after P'li's words. I knew she was right but P'li had never reacted like that before.

 _I know she was worried, but she didn't have to be so cold about it_

Went through my head as I slowed down my pace to think.

 _'_ _Or it was a trick of Darkar to place a wedge in the team.'_

Feria called in my head right before I tripped and fell over something that felt like a human body. I should watch where I'm going.

 _There aren't supposed to be any humans here_

I taught as I looked back at whom I had tripped over, gasping when I saw it was P'li!

 _'_ _How? I saw her in the library a moment ago'_

I taught, getting on my knees fast and shake P'li gently.

 **"P'li, wake up!"** I called as P'li groaned before she sat up, looking at me, dazed.

 _"Did you find the book?"_ she asked with a groggy voice.

"Not yet. Hang on. At the Zeppelin over the Airtemple that one time, what was the first thing I said after waking up?" I asked firmly, knowing only the real P'li could answer that.

"That you were okay after I asked. Then you went _'what about the mission?'_. Why?" P'li asked me with a confused look. I turned pale. That meant the other P'li was a fake.

"I'll explain later, we have to get to the library _ **now**_!" I told my best friend, who looked at me shocked before she nodded. After which the two of us ran back to the library.

 _ **"And that's not P'li!"**_ I called as soon as I had reached them with the real P'li standing next to me.

"Then who are you?" Zaheer asked as he looked at the P'li next to him with shock, dodging just in time as the fake P'li attacked him.

 _"What?_ " Zaheer said as he looked up at the fake P'li with shock. She grinned before she shifted into an all too familiar shape; ** _Darkar._**

"It seems we meet again, Voortrix." Darkar smirked as he looked at the eleven of us.

"Have we met before?" Ghazan asked with a confused look. "I think I would remember a mug like that."

"We did. Three Thousand years ago nine of you defeated me, locking me in a sarcophagus where I slumbered for years." Darkhar said, his one eye flashing as he spoke.

"This is the evil creature that destroyed Voorfield?" P'li asked.

 _ **"He is."**_ I replied firmly as I got in battle stance.

"You didn't lied when you said he was looking like a pure evil creature." Zaheer said.

"What did I say?" I said as Toph stood behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Ready when you are." She simply said. We knew what we had to do.

"There is no need to fight. Just hand me the Voortrix book and your powers and I will let you walk free." Darkar demanded.

 _ **"Over my dead body Darkar! The power of the Voortrix doesn't belongs to you!"**_ I called, after which we all made the V sign with our arms.

 _ **"Enchantix Voortrix!"**_ We all called, after which a bright flash lit up the library after which all Voortrix fairies stood before the Dark Lord in their Enchantix form.

"Ah. Enchantix, powered by sacrifice." Darkar smirked as he stretched out his arms. "You really think you can beat me with this?"

"We know we can't." I remarked with a as i looked at my friends. "But we can hold you off."

"The Voortrix book. You really think you can stop me with that?" Darkar said as he looked over us. "Do you really think there is any fairy form that can stop me?"

"There is and we're going to find it." Zaheer said, standing next to me with a firm look on his face. "And then you will give us back our powers."

"That you gave to me willingly." Darkar remarked sharply.

"To use for _ **good,**_ not _**evil**_." Toph said.

"My fall to the darkness was your fault." Darkar said bitterly as he looked over the group as they looked at him with confusion. Except me. I knew this story.

"We had _ **no**_ idea that would happen, Lightheart was our _**friend**_ and he was _**willing**_ to take the risk in order to _**save**_ Voorfield." I spat at him.

"You were a bunch of fools and that will be your downfall." Darkar said.

 _ **"Not in a million years!"**_ Ghazan called, after which he launched a chunk of rock at Darkar, which he caught with an amused smirk on his face.

"You will have to do better than that." Darkar sad while crushing the stone in his claw , after he sent Ghazan flying against the wall with little effort.

 _"He's too powerful."_ Zaheer whispered as he squeezed my hand a little. He was nervous. We all were. I was starting to panic, if it came to a fight we would be crushed.

 _"We have to distract him and grab the book, then get out as fast as possible."_ I whispered back to Zaheer as I looked around with panic, hoping I would spot anything that would trigger the same sensation I had felt when I had first looked at my medallion. Nothing.

 _"Let me drop something on him."_ Toph whispered in my ear as I nodded. The simplest approach is often the best one.

"Get ready.." I told everyone as they nodded and flew off. I nodded to Toph as she bended the earth beneath several of the bookcases, making them topple over and land on Darker. After that, we all took off and started to look for the book as fast as we could.

Darkar didn't stay down for long, though. We were running out of time.

 _ **"ilene! Can you hear me?"**_ I called on my watch.

 _"Loud and clear? How are things going?"_ Ilena answered.

 _ **"Badly, can you and the girls leave Lord Zuko to look after Atteritta for a while? Darkar is here, we could use a hand."**_ I called back as I saw Darkar getting up, casually dusting himself off.

 _"We'll be there in a flash, hang in there!"_ Ilene said as she hung up.

The eleven of us wouldn't be enough. I dodged a few attacks, landing behind a bookcase and dialing up Najira.

 _ **"Najira, we have an emergency! Get over here!"**_ I shouted as a sleepy looking Najira appeared on my phone.

 _"_ _It's in the middle of the night, can it wait?_ " Najira asked sleepily. I forgot about the time difference between Magix and this dimension _. Whoops._

"We tried to find this book that will help us save this world and then Darkar showed up." I explained as simply as possible. "We could use a few extra hands."

 _"I'm on my way."_ Najira said before she hang up. A flash and Ilene, Deoxis and Selvia appeared on one side and Najira and Valtor on the other.

"Backup, nice." Ghazan called as he threw a book at Darkar before flying to his other side and bending some lava at him only for it to be countered with ease.

"We heard there was a party." Floxy joked.

"We're real party makers." Rex smirked as he and Ilena used a combined attack to fling Darkar in a back wall, dodging a shadow attack from him.

 _ **"Let's get this party started. Pop Pixie Power!"**_ Floxy called, after which he used his newly achieved magic to change in his Pop Pixie form. _**"Pop Pixie of pranks!"**_

 _ **"Good idea! Pop Pixie Power!**_ " Yucca, Sapphire and Arsenio called, after which they also changed into their Pop Pixie forms.

"Everyone!" I tried but before I could finish, Darkar had flung all of us against a wall.

"Do you really think you can take me on now you're all back together" Darkar grinned as he walked towards us, his one eye flashing as he did so.

"Maybe." Ilene groaned as she got up slowly, followed by the rest of us. "But we _ **won't**_ let you win."

"Even if we'll die again, we'll find a way to get our friend back." Dizanna said as she got up.

"And we're with you." Valtor smirked as he hoisted himself up as we. Darkar turned to look at him.

"Keeper of the Dark Dragon Flame. Here to reclaim your power?" Darkar grinned as he looked at my godson.

"That time is behind me. I'm a redeemed man now." Valtor stated before he closed his eyes and seemed to focus on something after that, he pointed his hand at Darkar. A flash and all of a sudden. Darkar was gone only to return a second later.

"Foolish boy. You're worthless. Just like I told the ancient witches all those years ago." Darkhar smirked as he picked Valtor up by his face.

 _No! I'm not going to fail Najira again_

I thought as I gathered as much energy as I could.

 _ **"No!"**_ I shouted as I blasted Darkar with all I had. This took him by surprise, causing him to let go.

"Thanks!" Valtor said before he turned around and fired at Darkar along with me.

"Al together!" I called to the others, who blasted at Darkar as well. This made him grunt in pain.

"Next time, I won't be beaten. You will fall and the Voortrix will be mine." Darkar said before he disappeared in a flash.

 ** _"Wow!"_** I gasped, looking at Valtor with widened eyes. "Are you alright?"

"I am." valtor said as he got up, only to get pulled into a hug by Najira.

"I almost lost you again." She told her son after she had finally let go.

"Well, next time Femke should take more care of herself, then." Valtor smirked.

"I can take care of myself. I just needed some help with Darkar." I defended myself. "Speaking of which, how did you manage to use your powers? I thought you lost them?"

"I have been practicing since our last battle against Grizelda's clone." Valtor grinned as he looked at me. "I used a little spark of my powers back then as well."

"Looks like it paid off." I said, remembering he had used a spark of his old powers during our last battle against the Grizelda clone Darkar had sent.

"Who are you again?" Ming Hua asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You never heard of me?" Valtor asked arrogantly, which made me smile and shake my head.

"I'm Valtor, keeper of the Dark Dragon Flame." Valtor introduced himself.

"Another old flame?" Ghazan asked me as my face turned red.

"He's far too young for me." I said with a raised eyebrow. "And then there's the fact I'm his Godmother."

"He also almost took over the magical realm twice." Najira said as she ruffled her son's hair with a smile on her face.

"Only to be defeated by the Company of Light both times." I added.

"But I've changed." Valtor concluded looking at the two of us firmly.

"He did." Najira smiled as she hugged her son.

"No need to feel ashamed. We also almost ruined the world twice before we turned over a new leaf." Ghazan said.

"What happened, happened. I'm relieved Femke found us. She saved us in many ways." zaheer smiled as he wrapped an arm around me.

"A second chance is really powerful." Ilene smiled. As she said this, the medallions all started to glow and move towards each other with the magic Pops of the Pixies forming a circle around it. I looked at the circle with widened eyes just like the others. After the light cleared, a small altar had appeared with and old book on it. Wait, I've seen this before.

 _This must be it_

I thought as I placed my hand on the book to make sure it was real before I picked it up and opened it, gasping when i saw the Believix form. This was it! This was the Voortrix book.

"That looks amazing." Ghazan said as he looked at it over my shoulder.

"Is it me or did the wings get even bigger?" Zaheer commented as he looked over my other shoulder.

"And it looks like they can change forms as well." I smiled as I read the text next to the picture. "For speed, teleportation and looking into the past."

"Neat." Ghazan commented.

"Is there anything in the book about how to earn this new power?" Ming Hua asked.

"For us to earn it, the people of your planet have to start believing in Fairies again." I said as I looked up sternly.

"That might become a problem." Noatak said.

"They barely trust us. They won't believe us if we start about Fairy Magic." Tarrlok said sadly.

"We have to try Atteritta depends on it." P'li said firmly.

"How?" Ghazan asked.

"Feria said we had to open our hearts. That might help us." Xai Bau said with a pondering look.

"Let's just get out of here. We have the book." I said, figuring we better get back to a safe location.

"Let's go back to Songpan." Zaheer said.

"We're going back to Magix. Goodbye." Valtor smiled before disappearing in a flash.

"Good luck, Voortrix." Najira nodded before she and the others from Magix also vanished.

"We'll see each other again soon. Stay safe until then." I told my friends as we teleported back to Songpan.

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And with that I end a rather long chapter. I hope you liked it!

 _ **A/N:**_

Sorry about the many POV switches, I know it makes a story harder to read at times but I really wanted to tell the tale from several of the character's points of view as they get their medallions.

We'll see characters from my older stories stop by more often, especially the ones that are tied to the start of Femke's journey as a Fairy. If you want to know more about what happened to Valtor, you can read my story _'Befriending Valtor'_ on my User Page.

That was all for now! Thanks for reading and thanks to paranoidgirl for doing such an awesome job as Beta reader and advisor

 _ **Please leave a review.**_


	36. Chapter 36: believix

Chapter 36: Believix

 _ **Zaheer's POV**_

With bright flash we appeared in the living room of Aleia's home just as they were having tea, which caused a startled Atteritta to hide.

"Sorry." I said with a small smile, which caused her to look up at us.

"Knock next time, please?" Atteritta asked carefully. "How did you do that?"

"We have a special sort of power that allows us to transform, teleport and many more things." I explained as calmly as possible, knowing she has no experience with magic.

"That explains some things." She remarked as she looked at our fairy forms with a small smile on her face.

"How?" Ghazan asked.

"The way you're dressed is just… bizarre." Atteritta said, which made me look down and back up at her. I never realized that these clothes stood out so much in this world…

"Well, it's how most fairies dress in our dimension." Femke replied as she wrapped her arms around me from behind. "I think you look beautiful."

"You too." I smiled.

"Femke?" I looked up when I heard that voice as Team Avatar and a few of the world leaders had been present here as well as a new face. A middle aged Woman with brown hair. I thought her name was Zhu Li. What was she doing here?

"Can we help you?" Femke asked them.

"We just wanted to let you know that there is going to be an election soon. The Earth Kingdom will soon be a Democracy." Zhu Li smiled, which made me look at Wu standing in the back with a small smile. I was happy he was going to make the Earth Kingdom in a democracy.

"That's great news! How did the Presidential Selection go?" Femke asked with a small smile, liking the idea of a Democracy instead of a Monarchy.

"Can't you tell?" Zhu Li smiled as she pointed at the small badge on her chest, indicating she was the new President of the United Republic. Femke looked at it before she squeaked in excitement.

 _ **"You won?**_ That is so _**awesome**_! Congrats!" She smiled, making a move to go over to her and hug her, but she was stopped by two White Lotus Guards.

"Anyway… " Zhu Li said, giving both men a stern look as they stood down. "We were wondering if you wanted to come to Kuvira's trial tomorrow."

"Why?" Ghazan asked.

"Since you all claimed you changed and since the Avatar has told us of the many good things you have already done since you stopped being the Red Lotus, we thought it would be good to show you redeemed yourself to the public." President Zhu Li smiled.

"You think the time is right?" Femke asked, a little surprised. "You think they will accept we changed?"

"I am not one hundred percent sure." Zhu Li admitted. "But if you won't try you won't know"

"You're right. To stop Darkar we will have to win the trust of the people back." Femke said, before she looked at me sadly. "Without Believix we won't stand a chance against him."

"You're right. We all saw what happened at Voorfield." I nodded.

"What happened?" Bolin and King Wu asked in unison.

"We had an encounter with Darkar. He wanted our voortrix powers but we didn't give them up." Femke explained. "We tried to fight him off but were not strong enough. We only managed to drive him off because a few friends of us came to help."

"How are you going to stop him if you couldn't defeat him, even with help?" Korra asked with a worried look.

"To stop him we need a new Fairy form." Femke said. "Believix."

"The problem is; for the power to work we need the people of this planet to start believing in Fairies again." I added.

 _"Again?"_ Zhu Li asked.

"They used to, Three thousand years ago but stopped when Voorfield was eliminated." Ghazan said.

"That's awful." Korra said with a sad look.

 _ **"Wait!"**_ Wu popped in. "Does that mean you guys knew the Avatar back then?"

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"You're not sure?" Wu asked.

"No. There is a memory lock between two lives. Like a very heavy curtain." Femke explained as easily as possible.

"But the curtain can move aside with the right triggers." I said.

"Did yours move?" Bolin asked.

"Slightly. Not enough to know whether or not we knew the Avatar of three thousand years ago." Femke said with a little shrug. "But that's not the issue here; we should go to the trial."

"I don't know. It might be too early." P'li said with an unsure look.

"But if we don't try they might never forgive us. And then we can forget about earning Believix." Femke said as I nodded in agreement.

"Without Believix we won't be able to set Atteritta free." Ilena said with a sad look.

"Won't it be enough if everyone here believed in Fairies?" Atteritta asked sadly.

"If they would all just believe in magic again that could work." Femke said after she had looked in the book for a moment just to be sure. "But I have no idea if it will be enough."

"It has to be. I want to come with you. I want to be **_free._** " Atteritta said firmly before she turned to Team Avatar and the World Leaders. "Please help them. I can't bear this any longer now that I know there is a world for me to live for."

"I really want to help." Korra started as she looked at the poor woman sadly. "But trusting people that did so much harm isn't exactly something that comes naturally."

"So? The past is the past. You can't change what happened." Atteritta looked down sadly as she said the last part. I understood her all too well. If she would be able to change the past, she would go straight to her greath grandfather and stop him from trying to murder the Avatar, telling him how her life would turn out if he would. "But you can shape the future. These people have proven to me that their not bad any more. Why not give them a second chance?"

"We have but trusting them is harder then giving them a second chance." Korra said.

 _What she says is true. We can't change the past but we can make the…_

I started my line of thought before something else hit me. She had just perfectly quoted Guru Laghima.

 _How does she know a quote from Guru Laghima?_

"How did you come by that quote?" I asked after a few minutes of letting the avatar and Atteritta talk, which made atteritta look up at me surprised.

"My parents. Why?" She asked.

 _"I didn't know Guru Laghima him would have reached Songpan..."_ I muttered.

"Laghima? My mother once told me about him. Is it true that he could fly?" Atteritta asked with a small smile.

"It was. So could I." I revealed with a half proud smile, earning me a small prod from Femke and P'li.

"That's amazing" She smiled, impressed by what I had accomplished. _If only she knew…_

 _But my Earthly tethers returned in the form of Femke. I wouldn't be the same man I am today if they weren't_

I thought with a small smile towards my girlfriend standing next to me, who she smiled back and closed in for a hug. Sweetheart.

"He lost it again do when he fell in love with Femke do." Ghazan smirked as he elbowed Femke, who blushed and gave him a firm punch.

"It is true. I'm glad they returned. He was far too locked off when his earthly tethers were gone" Ghazan said.

"True" Ming Hua admitted with a shrug.

"I wouldn't know, I was in the hospital when it happened." Femke smiled.

"You're lucky. It was painful to see." Ghazan said, it really was something coming from someone who had known me from my teenage years.

"Anyway. You can come if you like. Try to earn some respect back. As long as you don't try to free Kuvira." Korra brought in while crossing her arms.

"Don't worry. They changed, remember?" Ilene smiled.

"Good." Korra said with a firm nod.

"What are we going to do with Atteritta? We can't just leave her." I brought up.

"Can't you just teleport her along?" Korra asked Femke.

"that would break the rules." Femke said. "But I think it might work." Femke said as she smiled as she looked at Atteritta with a small smile. "If you want to try."

As she asked this, Atteritta looked at her for a moment with widened eyes before she nodded and placed her hand on the stack off hands already gathered together, after which we all disappeared in a flash.

 _ **Normal POV**_

After a small moment everyone except Atteritta stood in the office of President Zhu Li Moon, looking around.

"Did it work?" Femke asked while looking around, seeing to her disappointment it hadn't. She was still in Songpan.

"So much for that idea." Ghazan shrugged before walking to Pepe the stuffed Platypus Bear.

"Too bad. It would have helped her out a lot." Femke said as she walked to Ghazan's side and looked into Pepe's beak.

 _How did two people fit in there?_

Crossed Femke's mind as she listened to her friends chatting about other ways to save Atteritta without provoking the mayor, after which Lord Zuko told about the Mayor's suspicious behavior, and how he suspected Darkar had involved himself to get to the Voortrix.

"That Darkar sounds like a menace." King Wu remarked.

"Not even close." Ghazan smirked. "We already fought him twice. He's **_extremely_** powerful."

"Even an entire group of us couldn't handle him." Zaheer admitted.

"What? Talking didn't work?" Korra smirked at Femke, who just looked down.

"We tried. Both of our lives did. It didn't work." Femke said as she clenched her fist.

"Mind if i try?" Korra asked.

"If you want to." Femke replied with a shrug.

"It's going to be rough, so if he refuses to listen, we'll take over, okay?" Zaheer asked as Korra sighed.

 _Talking about some turned tables_

Korra thought as she nodded at Zaheer's question. After that, everyone went to get dressed for a formal party celebrating the coming of the election as the men and women went to separate dressing rooms.

"What do people normally wear at these parties?" Femke asked as she looked over the few dresses from this dimension she had.

"Something fancy, a bit like what I wore during that gala Tarrlok had." Korra replied as she held up the blue and white dress Femke recognised from the Gala with a small smile.

"Do you suppose Alteressa Batu will be there?" Femke asked a little worried, knowing Zaheer's supposed mother wasn't very fond of her and she would love to make a good impression on her now to win her over.

"Probably. Why?" Asami asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She's the one that raised Zaheer. She wasn't very fond of him and me being a couple last time we met." I explained before adding with a sheepish smile. "I want to make a good impression."

"I see." Korra smiled as she watched me getting dressed. "How long have you two been a couple anyway?"

"Since the time you saw me at the waterfall." Femke replied with a smile.

"That's almost a year ago and you two are still so in love." Asami commented with a small smile.

"It's always good when your love life finally works out." Korra said.

"My first relationship lasted six months until someone stole him from me." Asami said as she looked at Korra with a teasing smirk.

"I told you I was sorry." Korra smirked, giving her girlfriend a loving peck on the cheek as she walked by.

"Bolin and I are together for almost four years." Opal smiled. "What about Kai and you?" She asked Jinora.

"Same. Our anniversary is tomorrow." Jinora smiled. "What about your first love, Femke?"

"Yeah! You never told us about your first lover! Was it love at first sight? Did you kiss? How did it end?" ikki asked beaming

"Yes. We were together for two years before he was killed by Darkar's minions trying to protect our youngest son." Femke replied while looking down, as everyone in the room fell silent.

 _"Dylan."_ Toph whispered sadly.

"Who is Dylan?" Lin asked Toph, which made Femke look at her in shock, unable to believe that Toph hadn't ever mentioned her little brother to her children.

"You never told them?" Femke asked Toph with a mixture of shock and hurt in her eyes.

"I never had the courage to tell it. It's kind of a painful subject." Toph admitted as Femke smiled and went over to hug her.

"They have the right to know the truth." Femke replied as she held her daughter close, who nodded before she turned to her daughters and granddaughter, who now looked at her with widened eyes.

"Dylan is my little brother. I am actually the second youngest of a sixteen-ling. We were all split from each other by birth because Femke was too weak from labor and thought she was dying." Toph told everyone. "I didn't mean to keep this from you but the death of Dylan was painful for me."

 _ **"You kept it away from us."**_ Lin snapped, angry and hurt by this revelation.

"That means we have fourteen aunts and uncles somewhere out there?" Su smiled. "Who we have never met?"

"They're all living on Earth somewhere. I only met a few of them in my younger years." Toph smiled. "They're a good bunch."

"Can we meet them someday?" Opal asked with a small smile, liking the idea of more family around.

"Of course. However, first we have a party to attend to and a world to save." Toph smiled.

"Let's go." Allerys smiled as she came from behind the dressing screen wearing a simple sleeveless red dress that floated onto the ground. It looked relatively close to what I was wearing at the moment with the only difference that mine was light green and had a yellow stripe in the middle.

"I wonder if Zaheer is going to wear his suit. He hates it." Femke smiled as she walked out of the room.

"Some people are like that. It's that we're supposed to wear a dress, otherwise I would just wear my normal clothes." Allerys smiled.

"Me too." Femke smiled.

"If Alteressa sees you dressed like this she will see you can be proper lady." Allerys smiled as the whole group of girls walked around the corner to the ballroom, which was beautifully decorated for the occasion with signs of the Earth Kingdom, ice sculptures and streamers.

"Thanks," Femke smiled, turning slightly red when she saw Zaheer. He was indeed wearing a suit, which looked very handsome on him.

"Looking good." Ghazan said, walking up to them while Zaheer looked at Femke and blushed.

Zaheer's POV

"What's taking them so long?" Bolin asked, while I fidgeted with my tie, feeling uncomfortable wearing it.

"They'll come, stop fussing." Ghazan said while looking over the balcony at the party in progress.

"I'm not fussing." I answered defensively.

"You are." Ghazan answered with a shrug. "If it makes you feel any better; Femke's probably fussing about your mom, too."

"She doesn't have to, for me. I like her the way she is and that's all that counts." I stated calmly. "Mother has to live with the choices I make."

"You will have to, eventually, especially if you want to get married." Wu said. I had only been with Femke for almost a year. I wasn't thinking about marriage. I didn't feel it was needed.

"I'm not sure if we're even going to." I stammered a little nervously.

"If you don't hurry up, you might lose your chance." Wu smirked. When did he start liking me so much?

 _'_ _Saving someone's life can do that.'_

A voice in my head called, which made me look to the side with a small smile, knowing who that voice belonged to; Zedinia.

 _I'll never fully trust him, though_

I thought looking back at Wu talking to Mako with a small smile. I had to admit the boy had grown from a spoiled, snobby brat to a self assured King who was aware of the needs of his people so unlike his aunt.

 _'_ _Understandable, you have suffered too much under the Earth Queen to ever fully trust a monarch but offering him peace, you two could come on friendly terms'_

Zedinia's voice called in my head.

 _'_ _Maybe someday you might. When your heart is ready for it'_

 _If the scars of the old Earth Queen have fully healed up, I might give it a chance_

I admitted, smiling as I heard talking in the distance, after which the girls appeared, all looking gorgeous but when I saw Femke, I had to gasp. She looked absolutely stunning in her long green dress with a yellow stripe in the middle and short sleeves. Her hair flowed over her shoulders and looked like it was shining in the light of the ballroom.

"Looking good." Ghazan said as he looked at Femke and the others while all I could do was blush as I looked at Femke, who was looking down at her dress, not sure what to say or do.

 _I can't blame her. I don't like these parties either_

I thought as I walked over to Femke and offered her a hand.

"You look beautiful." I told her with a smile on my face and as she looked up at me, I could feel my heart skip a beat.

"Thanks. You look good in a suit." She returned the compliment with a small smile before she realized how unlike her that must have sounded and turning red. "You probably already knew that."

"Yes but I never really enjoyed it." I admitted smiling.

"Me neither. I always disliked these public parties. Too much people in fancy clothes." Femke joked but before I could answer, we arrived at the top of the grand staircase where a man in a suit stood and read the names of the officials that came in.

 _ **"The new Voortrix."**_ The man announced.

 _ **"Tarrlok Arrai and Allerys Lee."**_

 _ **"Noatak Arrai and P'li Lee-Chang."**_

 _ **"Ghazan Lee and Princess Ming Hua Akira-Ai."**_

 _ **"Master Xai Bau Batu and Tziza."**_

 _ **"Ilena, Dizanna and Selvia."**_

 _ **"**_ _ **Zaheer Batu and Femke Rekampmolk."**_

When our names were called, all eyes went up at us and none of them seemed to be to be trusting us. _(Well, besides King Wu, who gave us an encouraging thumbs up.)_

 _I can't blame them after all that happened_

I thought as I went down the stairs, holding Femke by her arm. She smiled at me even though she was not comfortable with this situation either. I was glad when we reached the bottom of the stairs where we could blend in with the crowd after a small curtsey to president Zhu Li and Varrick.

"That wasn't too bad." Ghazan said as he sat down with a drink.

"Talk about yourself, I was sweating like an otterstork." P'li said as she sat down as well and got herself and Noatak a drink. "I'm not used to having all eyes on me.

"It's very uncomfortable. That might not change." Femke said, smiling as she handed me a drink.

"Did you see how most people looked at us?" Tarrlok asked as he wrapped his arm around Allerys. "I don't think they want to be near us."

"They're probably horrified by what we did." Noatak admitted as he looked nervously at P'li, who smiled a little as she edged closer.

"This is going to be a tough party." Ghazan agreed as he put his head on a nearby table. "Anyone got a game on them?"

"Nope." Femke smirked.

"Didn't fit in my pocket." Noatak grinned.

"Great." Ghazan groaned as he buried his head in his arms. Just as I wanted to say something to cheer him up I saw my parents. My father looking like he had been through a lot and my mother looking radiant as ever. Both were looking at me and approaching us.

"You're very brave to show your faces here after all you did." My mother said as she walked to us. I stepped in front of my girlfriend in an effort to keep her from having to face my mother's wrath.

"We were invited by the President herself, Miss Batu." Master Xai bau remarked sharply, walking to her after a curt bow.

"That doesn't suddenly make everything alright." Alteressa remarked.

 _"Look who's talking."_ I heard Femke murmur under her breath.

"Did you say something? As a princess you should know how to speak up." Alteressa said coldly. "If you _**are**_ even a princess."

"I am. Or I used to be. I gave it up because I couldn't agree to an arranged marriage." Femke snapped back as she stood next to me. "No one should be forced into a marriage they don't want."

"Maybe you weren't good enough?" Alteressa asked as a song started to play. "Being a Princess requires different skills than being a warrior. Like, say, dancing."

"Isn't it custom that the man asks the woman to dance?" Femke asked me with a sly smile.

"May I have this dance?" I asked with a joking smile.

"But of course." Femke smiled as she gave me curtsey, after which I took her onto the dance floor and a song started to play.

 _I only just met you_

 _Don't know what to say_

 _never had this feeling_

 _Why do I feel this way_

 _Love is what we feel_

 _Love is what we play_

 _Might be difficult_

 _Might never be the same_

 _Yet I know you and I_

 _Will last forever_

 _Because we promised_

 _Now and forever_

 _Through chaos and hell_

 _To be together_

 _For you are_

 _My one true love_

Femke and I moved over the dance floor together, much to the dismay off my mother, Femke was very good at dancing.

"I bet your mother didn't expect this." Femke smiled as I gently twirled her around, using my magic to keep myself upright without crutches.

 _The power of love_

 _works in mysterious ways_

 _Sometimes hard to see_

 _Sometimes really close by_

 _Yet when I look into your eyes_

 _I feel like floating_

 _Despite the many lies_

 _I feel so calm and wise_

 _Like we're floating_

 _Yet I know you and I_

 _Will last forever_

 _Because we promised_

 _Now and forever_

 _Through Chaos and Hell_

 _To be together_

 _For you are_

 _My one true love_

 ** _Normal POV_**

"I can see why my son likes her so much." Zaheer's father said as he smiled and stood next to Xai Bau.

"She is also a very wise leader and a good fighter." Master Xai Bau remarked as he smiled at the couple dancing. "That is why he loves her."

Shergon smiled at this as in a far corner of the room a woman looked at the dancing couple as well.

"Zaheer?" She gasped when she saw his face.

 _Promise me you and I_

 _Will be together forever_

 _That this will never end_

 _That we were bound forever_

 _Never to be apart_

 _Always to stay loyal_

 _Through Faith and Hell_

 _Until we both fall_

 _Because this is true love_

 _And true love conquers all_

 _All grown up and in love. Just like his parents once were_

She thought, smiling before she directed her gaze to the man she loved, who looked at her as well and blushed as their eyes met before he looked at Zaheer again. The woman followed his gaze to the dancing couple and when she looked at Shergon again he nodded. At this nod the woman looked at him with widened eyes, knowing what that meant. She was allowed to go and speak to Zaheer. To finally get to know him.

 _Yet I know you and I_

 _Will last forever_

 _Because we promised_

 _Now and forever_

 _Through chaos and hell_

 _To be together_

 _For you are_

 _My one true love_

"That was amazing." Femke smiled after a final curtsey to the crowd as she and zaheer, now back on crutches, walked back to the sidelines to where their friends were waiting for them.

"I think I never enjoyed a dance as much as now." Zaheer smiled.

"Even more then back at the boat?" Femke asked with a teasing smile.

"Maybe once." Zaheer admitted with a sheepish smile.

"Jokester." Femke giggled as she gave her boyfriend a small shove.

"Had a nice dance?" Ghazan asked as Femke and Zaheer reached the rest of the group again.

"Amazing." Zaheer smiled, looking at Femke, who giggled and blushed.

"Who's the woman staring at you?" Ming Hua remarked, pointing to a woman standing in the back who was staring at them.

"Do you know?" Femke asked Zaheer.

"No but I feel like I should." Zaheer said as he looked at the woman with shock.

"Old friend?" Ghazan asked.

"I have never met her before but her face looks familiar. I just can't remember from where." Zaheer said as he kept looking at the woman.

 _"Not again."_ Ming Hua groaned.

"Another mystery." Ghazan smirked.

"Easy to solve." Femke smiled as he took Zaheer's hand in her own. "Just go talk to her."

"I don't know. What if she is an agent of Darkar?" Zaheer asked a little nervously. He really wanted to go and speak to her but he wasn't sure if he should.

"She doesn't have a dark aura around her. She looks nervous, not evil." Femke smiled as she reached for Zaheer's hand but before she could do that, something caught the older airbender's eye that made him pull away from Femke and run as fast as his legs could carry him towards President Zhu Li. A shadow monster.

 _ **"President Moon! Watch out!"**_ Zaheer called as he jumped in and toppled the president over so the Shadow Monster wouldn't hit her. Instead, Zaheer caught the full blow off the attack and was launched into a table.

 _ **"Zaheer!"**_ Femke called out, using a shield to cover as many people as she could against the monster, which had now turned towards her.

 _ **"We have to transform!"**_ Noatak shouted as Allerys, Xai Bau and Tziza got weapons from the places they had hidden them just in case.

 _ **"Good idea! But only to protect the people for now. Don't attack until they're safe!"**_ Femke called back as she crossed her arms, along with the others.

 _ **"Enchantix Voortrix!"**_ They called, which was followed by a flash after which everyone in the room gasped at the sight of the eleven fairies with their shields raised.

 _ **"President Moon, we'll hold them off. Get the people out!"**_ Femke shouted to Zhu Li, who nodded and started to direct the people in the ballroom to the emergency exits.

 _ **"Need a hand?"**_ Korra asked Femke after the room was cleared out.

 _ **"We'll be fine!"**_ Femke called back as she and the others started to fight the monster with all they had.

 _ **"Let's crash!**_ " Ghazan shouted as he used his lavabending to try and make the creature stumble. Instead it took flight.

 _ **"It can**_ _ **fly**_ _ **?"**_ Femke called as she looked up at the monster.

"Guess that's what the wings are for." Tarrlok said as he flew after it.

 _ **"Steam jet!"**_ Noatak called, using one of his new enchantix attacks to strike the monster down.

 _ **"Electric Fire!"**_ Femke attacked along with him.

 _ **"Wave Crash."**_ Tarrlok shouted, making it wet so the electric attack would hit extra hard but the monster was strong and shook it off with ease, flying up through the big glass roof and into the sky with the eleven fairies following after him.

 _ **"Look! Up there!"**_ The people on the ground called as they pointed up in the sky were the Voortrix were now facing off against the monster.

 _ **"That's the Red Lotus!"**_ A few White Lotus guards gasped.

 _ **"And those are the bloodbending brothers!"**_ A former lieutenant added.

 _ **"And that's Chief Toph!"**_ A little girl in the crowd chimed in.

"They're heroes?" A young boy asked his mother.

"Looks like it." His mother replied as she looked at the fight. Everyone had heard the rumors about the Red Lotus' change of heart and the creation of the new Voortrix, but no one really believed it.

 _"Zaheer."_ Shergon smiled as he looked at the fight going on, seeing how much his son had changed. _ **"You can do it!"**_ He called after a moment, feeling they might need their support.

 _ **"Take it down!"**_ Lee-Chang called out as well.

 _ **"Go get it!"**_ Dahlia called with a smile as her daughter waved at her uncle happily.

 _ **"Please be careful!"**_ Queen Ami called, looking up worriedly.

 _ **"Don't listen to her, you can do it!"**_ Aunt Ti called with a smile on her face.

 **"You've come too far to give up now!"** Chang called.

 _"We believe in you, Voortrix."_ The strange woman whispered as she looked up at the fairies with a smile on her face. A bright light flashed from her chest, after which all the eleven fairies looked at their own.

"What's happening?" Zaheer asked as he looked down at himself before he smiled at Femke, who returned it.

"This is it."Femke said.

 _ **"All together!"**_ Noatak shouted as he held out his hand and all of them placed their hand forward.

 _ **"Believix Voortrix!"**_ They all called as a bright flash enveloped them all, causing everyone to shield their eyes. When they looked back, the Voortrix had re-appeared. Their outfits slightly altered and their wings even bigger than before.

"I feel stronger." Zaheer said as he looked at his new outfit with a pleased smile.

"We just earned a new Fairy form. We'll be able to stop that thing." Femke said.

"Let's get that thing." Noatak said as they all flew towards the monster, which cocked its head in confusion before it growled loudly.

 _ **"We have to take it out**_ _ **NOW!**_ _ **"**_ Zaheer called. "A lot is at stake here."

 _ **"Let's combine our powers!"**_ Femke called as she flew towards the monster, closely followed by the others as they formed a circle around it and held hands.

 _ **"Light of the Voortrix!"**_ They all called together as their medallions lit up and they bended all four elements once before they released a powerful blast towards the monster, which let out one final howl before it disappeared.

 _ **"Good work everyone!"**_ Bolin called smiling, while Opal went over to hug Toph.

"What was _**that?**_ " Bumi asked in wonder when he and Kya had reached her as well.

"We earned a new form; Believix. It's drawn from the people who believed in us." Femke explained with a smile as they all changed back.

"Where did you practice that?" Korra asked.

"Sorry we had no chance to include you in the fight. We don't know how well bending holds up against Magic." Femke apologized.

"Didn't you fight monsters like that before?" Asami asked.

"Not really. This one was new for us." Femke answered.

"It looked tough." Mako said as he looked at the remains of the monster on the ground. "There might be more."

"That's why we have to leave as soon as the trial is over. Darkar knows where we are and he will keep sending his minions after us until he has our powers." Femke said with a firm look.

"Can't you take him out now?" Lin asked firmly.

"No, he's far too dangerous and powerful for us now. Even with our new Believix form he will be hard to beat." Femke said as she looked at her granddaughter smiling sadly. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Not again." As she said the last part she looked down, causing Lin to huff.

"Don't give me that. You were perfectly willing to kill me for your new friends." She snapped as she looked at Femke.

"Back then I was a fool. I felt I couldn't just stand down and let my friends get hurt." Femke defended as she kept looking to the side. "I _**refuse**_ to face that again! I _**refuse**_ to make the same mistake I made when I lost Daniel and Dylan."

 _"_ _Mom."_ Toph gasped as she looked at Femke.

"Femke." Zaheer smiled as he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "No one will get hurt because of us. Not again" Zaheer promised as he looked at Femke.

"What about yourself?" Femke asked as she looked up at him sadly.

"Femke, look at me." Zaheer said firmly, making Femke look up at him, straight into his eyes. "If any of us die, know that it will be for the world we both care about." He said.

"Do you care that deeply about her?" A voice asked as a woman with dark hair and piercing green eyes walked towards the group. Zaheer looked at her with widened eyes.

"Yes." Zaheer smiled, looking from the woman to Femke.

"You're the stranger that was checking Zaheer out before." Ghazan said. "Now we get to know why he fell like he knew her."

"You did?" The woman asked as she looked at Zaheer with surprise. "Shergon told you about me?"

"How do you know my father?" Zaheer asked as he looked at the woman with a wide eyes.

"He didn't?" The woman said, before she sighed. "Then this is going to be a long story. My name… Is Lianna" Lianna said, looking up at Zaheer sadly, which made all Voortrix gasp in shock.

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Cliffhanger! If you want to know who Lianna is and why Zaheer thinks he knows here, you have to keep reading.

Thanks for reading. And thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a great job as a Beta reader and advisor

 _ **Please leave a review.**_


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